Vanishing Acts
by Missing-Marble
Summary: Incredible, consuming pain flowed from the wound in my throat. I began to scream wildly, thrashing around on the pavement. One word made its way to the front of my mind before I succumbed further to the fire: Vampire. **MAJOR BD & MINOR MS SPOILERS!**
1. Turning Point

**A/N: The "normal" (using the term loosely. They're not exactly normal people.) will show up in later chapters, I promise. This is just the beginning. But let me know what you think. This is the first time I've written Twilight fanfiction. It's new for me. Go easy.**

DISCLAIMER: All characters, places, and concepts related to the canon Twilight books belongs to Stephenie Meyer. Everything else is mine.

**Chapter One: Turning Point**

I squinted my eyes in the bright sunlight, holding my hand to my forehead so that I could see down the street. The February heat rose in visible waves off the pavement as I stepped onto the cross walk. Summer weather was year round where I lived in Pinecrest, Florida, a suburb just outside Miami.

I crossed the road quickly, numbly. My life had become such a repetitive one lately that I had stopped thinking about the things that I did as individual actions. Instead, I tended to look at my day as a whole. One predictable motion that kept me both moving in one direction and stuck in a grey area at the same time. If I didn't look at each thing that I did separately, it was far less of a let down when I realized how boring I really was.

It's not that I was in a miserable point in my life. My parents had never been divorced. I wasn't in poverty or orphaned or homeless or anything exceptionally out of the ordinary. It was just that I was _too_ ordinary. It may sound arrogant or pompous, but I had never felt quite right in the life that I led. I had always felt like I was destined for something more, something bigger.

Even now, as I walked to my little green Honda, my head wasn't completely in the game. It was whirling with fantasies, colorful, impossible lives swirling in my mind's eye. I plopped into the seat with a sigh, turning the key in my ignition, and brought back to Earth by the protest of my car's engine. I would never have the expensive, beautiful cars that the expensive, beautiful people drove through Miami.

I made my way home without much feeling, because I knew what awaited me there. My hand was on the door knob before I even realized I was actually home. I raised my eyebrows in slight surprise, even though it wasn't entirely unexpected.

"That you, Jo?" I heard my mother's voice shout from the kitchen.

"Yeah, mom." I rolled my eyes. Every one else was already home. Who else would it be?

"How was work?" she asked when I walked in and plopped down on a chair at the table.

I slowly, yet deliberately kicked my shoes off. "Good," I answered in a flat, automatic voice.

"Well, that's good." She smiled at me warmly before turning back to the stove.

I rolled my eyes again once she couldn't see me. Nothing would be more than 'good' for me.

After a few seconds of silence, I sighed quietly and stood. I began dragging myself up the stairs. As soon as my bedroom door closed behind me, I pivoted on the spot and fell backwards onto my bed. I lay, staring at my ceiling without really seeing it. I let my mind wander.

It's not that I was a particularly morbid person. I was simply bored. I was sick of being so unbearably average. It was always the same, day in and day out. I woke at seven, left for school at seven thirty, then left school for work. Lather, rinse, repeat.

I hadn't always been such a boring person. Only a few months ago, I had been completely content with the life I was leading. Had it really been such a short amount of time since I had become numb like this? 

My sense of time was completely warped. It had seemed like years since I had truly been happy, really smiled. But I knew that it had been only last November that I had started working so much, and drifted away from my friends. That was only four months, but it felt like an ever-widening ocean, stretching behind me.

I had had a long day and, tired of my melodramatic thoughts, I drifted into a dreamless sleep.

When the next day dawned, the very air around me felt strange. It was like the world was holding its breath, waiting for something important to happen. I could feel the strange atmosphere around me. It was so tangible that it was almost visible. But, since I was so used to the monotony by now, I merely shrugged it off and got ready to leave for school.

My day went by normally enough. The only strange occurrence was when I tripped over my own feet halfway up the stairs on the way to English class, and my things flew in every direction. I cursed under my breath and began collecting them as swiftly as possible. Despite my efforts, I heard the late bell chime.

When I walked in the door three minutes late, every head turned in my direction.

"Ah, so nice of you to join us, Ms. Crosley," my teacher commented in a falsely kind voice. "We were just discussing the merits of punctuality as it pertains to military accuracy in 'Catch-22'. Care to shed any light on the topic?"

I sat down before speaking. "Well, Mr. Santos," I began, pulling my notebook out of my bag as I talked, "I would have to say that everyone, you know, trips up every once in a while. Sometimes being late is completely unavoidable." I knew what was coming, but I tried to make my case anyway.

"So, you are suggesting that people have the right to be late whenever they please?" he asked me, raising his eyebrows. "In the story, of course."

"Yeah. I guess so. Well, not whenever, but I think that if something comes up, it's not always easily avoided. Not every situation goes according to plan. Sometimes improvisation is required to cover up for tardiness. In the book, that is." I didn't really feel in the mood to argue when I was hurrying to class, but now, for some reason, I didn't really seem to care. It was like I knew I would never have to carry out whatever punishment he had in store for me. I was acting completely out of character and, for the first time in a while, I was actually pleased with myself.

"Detention, Joline," he said. "Although some situations are unavoidable, you need to learn to be on time to my class."

When I left school later that day and hurried home to change into my work clothes like usual, I was still contemplating what had happened. Why did I have this feeling? Why was I being so careless with the things that I said? It was like I had a reason to be excited for something. Like the atmosphere from early 

this morning had never stopped. It had carried over with me, through the day. I hadn't felt the anticipation of a big event like this in a long time, and never had it been for something unknown. I had never felt quite like this before and, honestly, it scared the hell out of me.

Work passed by in a flash, and, it seemed, in no time, I was cleaning up the restaurant at the end of the night. When I had the closing shift, no one else was there besides my manager, who was always so busy in his office in the back that he didn't pay much attention to what I did. Usually, I enjoyed the silence, because it gave me the opportunity to be alone in my mind.

Tonight, the silence gave me the chills. I wasn't sure what it was about the empty space that gave me the creeps. I put the chairs onto the tables hastily, and swept the floor less thoroughly than I normally would have. I was in a hurry to get out. That much was clear.

I grabbed the bag out of the trash can and walked swiftly to the door to the alley in the back. It was my last chore of the night, and then I could retreat to the safety of my car. When I opened the door, though, my body reacted immediately.

I froze mid-step, every muscle in my body tensed, and my heart rate picked up. My eyes scanned the alleyway, taking in the sight before me. I could feel blood pounding in my ears, my breath coming faster. I knew that the strange feeling I had had inside had been coming from what was in this alley. All of that was instinct. A flicker of intuition that I should have listened to.

But what I saw when I scanned the space was nothing but a dumpster and an air conditioning unit. Nothing out of the ordinary. _You're being ridiculously paranoid,_ I found myself thinking in a strange tone that was not my own. I tried to shake the feeling, tried to shrug it off.

I took one hesitant step outside, every muscle and nerve in my body screaming in protest. I dashed to the dumpster, flung the lid open, and launched the bag inside. I whirled around in one quick motion, began my sprint back for the door, when I saw him.

Standing in my way, leaning leisurely against the wall next to the door, was the most absurdly beautiful man I had ever seen. He had a smirk on his perfect face, his arms folded across his obviously muscled chest. I barely had the time to take in the odd, yet entrancing, pale color of his skin before I heard him laugh softly.

It wasn't the sort of laugh that you would expect out of some one who looked like he had just stepped off a runway. It was something that you may expect from a serial killer or a lunatic. It was menacing, dark, threatening. It made my blood run cold and my knees weaken all at the same time.

_He won't hurt you,_ my mind told me in a calm, soothing voice. _Go to him. You'll see._ It was that same strange sound in my head. My body was literally shaking from the effort of keeping still, but I felt myself taking in involuntary step forward anyway.

"Hello, Joline Crosley," he said in a soft, musical voice. I felt myself take another step forward without thinking about it.

My heart was beating faster than it had before. "H-how do you know my name?" I stuttered out.

He smiled wider, flashing a set of perfect white teeth. I tensed even more. "Why, I always get to know my prey first," he said, as if it were obvious. "I find it makes the kill that much more satisfying."

Two words struck me. Prey and kill. Maybe he was a serial killer after all._ He was only joking,_ my mind told me once again. _Don't be so afraid._

I fought the urge to take another step, and, surprisingly, I won the battle. I saw a glint of frustration cross his face then. _Go to him,_ my mind said again, more urgently this time. When I finally took another step forward, my thoughts took on their normal tone again and his face relaxed from its tense state.

He straightened from the wall, and began walking toward me. His movements were eerily graceful and fluid. "I must say, though, you weren't the most fun to follow. You should have spent your life on more interesting pursuits. So bad that it was cut short like this. But, who knows? Maybe you were meant to die this way, fated from the start."

The closer he got, the more that I lost my ability to speak.

"Do you believe in fate, Joline? Is it something that you've spent much time contemplating? You go about your routine each day, but have you ever stopped to think about the moment when everything could suddenly halt? When your life may turn?"

In fact, I had given more thought to that particular subject than most. I often dwelled on how much people wasted their lives.

"What's the matter? Cat got your tongue?" he asked mockingly, moving ever closer. He was directly in front of me now, his body only inches from my own. He reached one pale hand up and touched my face. The temperature of his skin shocked me. It was as if I had been touched by a corpse.

_You see? _my mind said in that strange, velvety voice. _He means you no harm_. But I knew it wasn't true. I knew somehow that the thought was not my own. Like it was being put there by someone who _did_ mean me harm.

"You're smart for a human," he commented nonchalantly. "Most never get the chance to figure out that I'm putting the thoughts in their head. Bravo." The last remark was sarcastic.

"What do you mean 'for a human'?" I asked, finding my voice suddenly. He had surprised me enough that I could speak again.

"Surely you've noticed that I'm something more than man, Joline. Surely that conclusion has come to you." He spoke as if I were a very small child, as if he were far older than he appeared. "Now you've got it. I _am_ much older than I appear."

I realized with a sudden jolt of horror that, not only could he put thoughts into my head, he could read my mind as well.

His smirk turned to a frustrated scowl in an instant. "I'm through playing games with you," he said suddenly. "Such a shame. You were such a pretty girl." He touched my face lightly once more before lowering his face to mine.

For one irrational moment, it looked as if he were going to kiss me. Then I realized his intentions. I gasped in shock as I felt a sharp pain at my neck, a sudden tearing of my throat. It wasn't simply two pricks, as I had expected when my intuition told me what he was. It felt as though he had sunk a full set of teeth into me.

"Joseph, we must go!" someone shouted suddenly. "They're here, Joseph! They've come for us!"

Before a second had passed, I was flung to the ground unceremoniously. He was gone. I felt weak and oddly cold, and I knew I was losing blood quickly. Before I could fully comprehend this, though, the pain began. Incredible, consuming pain flowed from the wound in my throat. I began to scream wildly, thrashing around on the pavement.

One word made its way to the front of my mind before I succumbed further to the fire: Vampire.


	2. Falling

**Okay, so no one reviewed Chapter One, but I'm not going to be one of those annoying writers who begs for reviews. But it would be kind of awesome if you would, because how else would I get better? Oh, and still no Cullens. But they will come.**

DISCLAIMER: Twilight and all its characters belong to Stephenie Meyer.

**Chapter Two: Falling**

My world was overwhelming, all consuming pain. I don't know how long I lay there, begging for it to end, screaming at the top of my lungs, before someone came looking for me. It felt like it had been years that I had been laying on the ground, writhing in agony, but it was no more than half an hour.

I had no concept at all of what was going on around me. I didn't know what was happening, or why I was hurting. The revelation from earlier had completely left me when I had sunk into this world of flames. It felt as though someone were threading a white hot wire through my veins.

Somewhere in the back of my mind, I think I was vaguely aware of motion. I couldn't quite tell if I was floating or if I was being carried, but I was moving for sure. I pushed that knowledge aside quickly, scolding my brain for paying attention to anything but the fact that I had quite obviously burst into flames.

I was screaming at the top of my lungs. My throat was bound to give out soon. My limbs were flailing wildly. I knew I was dying. Or possibly already dead. If I wasn't dead, then why hadn't they killed me yet? I was shouting it. Through all the incomprehensible yells, I knew the words had gotten through.

"KILL ME NOW! JUST DO IT! PLEASE! MAKE THE FIRE STOP!!" I was making my message clear. Why was I not dead yet? I was going to scream and scream until they finished me off.

Suddenly, I couldn't do anything at all. I couldn't move a muscle or say a thing. I was completely frozen, but the pain raged on. It didn't diminish one bit.

"There you go, Joline. That feels better, doesn't it? Just sleep." The voice was far off and kind somehow. I wanted to grab whoever it was by the throat and squeeze until whoever had the voice was in just a fraction of the amount of pain that I was experiencing now.

I concentrated on willing my mouth open. Whatever the person with the voice had done to me, it had mad me incapable of motion. I was a prisoner to my pain. There was motion again just a few minutes later, and it went on for a little bit. I didn't pay it much attention, but I noticed it without trying to.

For hours, the pain went on and on. I drifted in and out of awareness, but couldn't seem to slip into a sleep. I could never open my eyes, but I could hear voices around me. They were indistinguishable at first. The pain in my body kept them out. After a while, though, I was able to think a little.

I began flipping mentally through everything I had done in my life. Was there anything that would have condemned me to hell? Because, surely, there was no other explanation for what was happening. I was dead and had been rejected by the man upstairs. Sure, I hadn't been as considerate to my parents as I could have been. I hadn't been nice enough to my little brother and sister, maybe, but that was nothing that would warrant this degree of pain. I had never stolen or killed anyone. Heck, I had _been_ killed. Maybe it was because I had never been very religious. I had never really committed to going to church before. Well, I was a believer now. A little too late, maybe, but I was convinced.

Even later, I was able to put aside the pain a little more, though it didn't diminish in the least, and I was able to listen. People were bustling around me. People with tight voices and strained words. It took me a while to focus on exactly what they were saying.

"Doctor, the tests are all coming up negative. She has nothing we can think of. The symptoms came on instantaneously and without warning. We have no clue as to what's wrong with her," a pinched female voice said.

"Yes, I figured as much," said another grave voice. A man this time. "I believe some sort of rigor mortis has set in. Her skin forced out the IV needle, and we can't get anything back in her. Her body temperature is dropping, as well."

What? I was alive? Where was I? Was I in a hospital? The questions swirled around in my brain. How was I not in hell? Was this doctor saying I was alive? Dying? I had to open my eyes, say something. Tell him that I wasn't dead.

I heard footsteps enter the room. Shuffling, loud footsteps.

"Her heart is still beating, miraculously, but there's no more we can do," the man's voice said again. "We suggest that she be moved to a place your family would be more comfortable in. She can't have more than a day left. We urge you strongly to rent a heart monitor, if only so you can know when your daughter's life has ended. I'm so very sorry that this has happened." And he did sound sorry. But I wasn't dead yet! I was still alive, somehow unable to scream.

Something tugged at the back of my mind, though. Something comforting in a twisted way. He had said no more than a day. After a day, I would be through with this fire. I would be dead, but rid of the licking flames.

After more time, there was motion again. This time, I was able to pay attention to it. I was rolling. Lying on something and rolling. A bed? Then, being lifted and, after that, the sensation of gliding. I was in some sort of a vehicle. I listened and heard the beep of a heart monitor. If I listened hard enough, I could hear cars passing us on the street. When I really strained, I was able to make out music. A car radio, I figured. If anything, my hearing was getting better. Was that normal for dying people? Maybe it was some cruel, undocumented joke of nature. When a person died, they could hear life going on around them, hear people living. I could hear the driver's heartbeat. Was that normal?

When the car stopped, I was rolling in the bed again. Then, suddenly, I was cradled in a pair of arms. The arms felt unnaturally warm. The doctor had said something about my body temperature dropping. Maybe this was the result. I was laid on what I assumed was a bed. I heard sniffling. I heard someone move a tissue across their face. Crying. Somebody was crying.

There were footsteps on the stairs now, and labored breathing. Something was being wheeled across the floor, and then, after there were things attached to my body, the beeping of the heart monitor began again. I found it strangely ironic that I would be able to hear my own death. Know the exact moment when the beats slowed to a single tone, then I would be gone forever.

"She looks so peaceful, it's hard to believe she's even still alive," a woman's voice said. In the back of the mind, somewhere buried behind the pain, I heard my mind say _Mom_.

A man's voice answered her, and I recognized it as my father's. "She looks more beautiful than ever. Is this a cruel joke?"

He was echoing my thoughts, but with a different meaning. They were reflecting on my appearance. How could I look peaceful when I was being burned from the inside? How could I look beautiful when I had been burnt to a crisp? Of course it was a cruel joke, but not played on them.

As time went on, I heard people come and go, and I was able to distinguish their heartbeats again. At one point, there were four at one time, but I could tell them apart from the varying speeds and pitches. The higher, faster ones, I somehow knew by instinct, were children. Men had lower pitches than women. Elderly people had the slowest rhythms.

With all of the new hearing abilities, I was only becoming more and more confused by the second. My pain seemed to be getting worse. It was burning hotter now than it ever had, but everything else about me seemed to be better. It was like I was dying while in my peak state. My mind was even clearer than it had ever been. It was like the fire had burnt out all of the dust that had been clogged in the corners of my brain and in my ear canals.

When the pain was growing even more white-hot, there were more and more footsteps on the stairs. People were coming to give me their last respects. It hurt to know that the people I loved were right next to me, but I couldn't say anything or offer any comfort. I could hear their breathing, hearts, and even, if I strained hard enough, the tears rolling down their cheeks. But I couldn't bring myself to say anything. The thing that had trapped me had worn off; I had felt it releasing me. But I still couldn't say anything, move anything, because I knew that I would begin screaming and thrashing again. So I said my silent goodbyes to everyone that passed through the room.

At last, the footsteps stopped. I could only detect four heartbeats now. They were standing by my bedside silently. Two were fast and two were slow. It was my parents, my brother, and my sister. These were the people it was going to hurt the most to lose. I was just about to get upset about their pain when I felt my own grow tenfold.

The fire was retreating from my fingers, my toes, my limbs. It was all being pulled toward my core, toward my heart. I heard the monitor speeding up. Was it supposed to do that? Maybe I was having a heart attack. I thought it would slow. But I knew I was about to die. The pain grew and grew until it peaked, and my body flopped involuntarily like a fish out of water once, and then I was still and painless.

I wasn't breathing because, well, that's what you were supposed to do when you were dead. It took me almost thirty seconds to register the fact that I could still hear the flat-line sound of the heart monitor, my family's heartbeats, and my dog walking around downstairs. Maybe I was having one of those out of body experiences where my spirit floats above my body and looks down on the scene. Tentatively, I opened one eye, thinking the sight might be kind of cool.

I was facing a wall. I was in my bedroom, and I could see the light beige color of the paint. Instead of the sight I had expected, I was faced with one much more fascinating. I could see every bump in the paint, every shadow cast by the light on the texture. The fabric of my pillow case was suddenly a bunch of intricately weaved fibers. I was so caught up in what I was seeing that I forgot I was still in the same room as my body.

Behind me, someone made a sobbing, choking noise. My reaction was instantaneous. I reacted purely on instinct, without thinking. Before a half of a second could pass, I had twisted around on the bed, pulled the monitors off my chest, launched myself off the mattress, and landed against the wall in a crouched defensive position. My lip curled over my teeth and I felt something like a growl threatening to rip itself from my throat.

The remainder of the second passed, and the people standing by the bed gasped. "Where did she go?" the woman asked. "She was just here. Did she just vanish?"

When she spoke, the fear in me rippled again, and the growl managed to escape. It was a terrifying sound, a fierce snarl that slashed through the air and said, quite plainly, 'Get away'. I was so surprised by the sound of it that I straightened, shocked into being calm. I recognized the people again as my family.

Their reaction was similar to mine, but it took them about ten times as long to hear it completely and whirl around to face me. The shock registered on their faces a full second after I processed the fact that I didn't seem to be dead. But, somehow, I was some kind of animal. I wondered what they were seeing when they looked at me. Did I even look like a person anymore?

"Jo-Jo?" my little brother asked hesitantly, taking a half step toward me. My dad put a hand on his shoulder and held him back.

"Jo? You're not dead?" my sister asked in disbelief.

I took a deep breath to calm myself. Big mistake. The burning fire restarted in the back of my throat. Suddenly, I was crouched again, this time on the offense. I felt the growl rumble in my chest again as I clenched my muscles, ready to attack.


	3. First Night

**A/N: There's a picture of Joline on my profile. And I know what people are going to say. "_Still_ no Cullens?!" They're coming, though. I think in the next chapter. I might make it after that, though. I'm still not totally sure. But let me know what you think!**

DISCLAIMER: Twilight and its characters belong to Stephenie Meyer.

**Chapter Three: First Night**

There was a battle raging inside me. My mind was warring with my primal, instinctual side as I stood there, crouched and ready to kill my own family.

I didn't want to kill them. I was screaming it to myself. I didn't even eat meat! I'm a vegetarian, for Christ's sake. I haven't had a bite of living thing in about five years. Why did I suddenly have the overwhelming urge to dive at these four innocent people and rip their lives away with my bare teeth?

_It will make it stop hurting,_ said the rabid, hungry side of my mind. _Anything to quench the thirst._

I resisted. I pushed with all my might to force out the demon in my mind, telling me to do something I knew I would regret. Then, as I felt my resolve weakening, a picture burst into my mind. The beautiful face of the man in the alley, smiling and cooing at me. The thoughts he had placed into my mind. I was reminded almost too vividly of his slow, sauntering walk toward me, the way his teeth glinted in the moonlight. And then I saw his eyes for the first time. I hadn't paid enough attention in the alley. They were a blazing crimson red. The last thing that shoved its way into my mind was the single word revelation I had had when I first began to feel the pain. Vampire.

The word itself seemed to hang in the air in front of me, dangling on a string. It was teasing me, taunting. Is that what I was now? How could I be sure? I realized suddenly that it had only taken me the span of about five seconds to go over all of this in my mind. My family's expressions hadn't changed. Inch by inch, in a motion that probably looked to be at normal speed to their eyes, I pulled myself out of my crouch.

I stood there staring at them for a few long seconds, warring with my mind, before speaking. "I'm sorry," I said clearly. With that, I darted from the room, down the stairs, and out the front door. I stopped once I had made it down the street, and took a deep breath of the clean night air. I looked around. There didn't seem to be anyone outside. I guessed that it was very late.

My mind was racing. What had I become? Was I right in assuming that I was now a…vampire? It was so strange to even think the word. Vampires were the stuff of mythology. They lived in Transylvanian castles and couldn't say their double-u's. They had slicked back black hair and capes, for Christ's sake. And fangs. Tentatively, I reached my finger up to my mouth, touching the place where my incisors had been a few days ago. They felt normal. They weren't any longer than they had been. I remembered something else, then. The way that the man's mouth had felt against my neck. Not like he was piercing it, but like he was biting through me completely.

So maybe it was true. Maybe I was what I had suspected. If so, I had to get away from here, where I was a danger to everyone in the town. I looked around once more, sniffing at the air. My body tensed again at the scent of the people in their homes, but I mentally slapped myself and focused. There was no one outside. I knew that from what I could hear. I was as confused by the knowledge as I was sure of it. I took off at a run.

I was immediately surprised with my speed. I was moving much faster than I had ever seen anything move, but I could see every detail of everything that I passed. What was happening to me? What was I? I ran and ran, my mind whirling with questions, all drawing a blank. I had no answers for myself.

After just ten minutes of speeding through the state, the vegetation began to thicken. I felt the ground grow softer under my bare feet. I halted and looked around. I was in the marshy, swampy part of Florida. There would be no people here. I sniffed at the air, delicately this time. A snarl built in my chest once again. The scent wasn't as strong as those of my family, but it made my throat burn just the same.

My eyes scanned the thick swamp land around me. I zeroed in on the source of the smell quickly. About fifty yards from where I stood, a large alligator was resting in the water, its body half buried in mud. I had a second of self doubt in which I questioned my ability to take down the animal. It was twice my size and had an armor of thick scales.

I realized then that I had no idea how strong I was. I knew I could run ridiculously fast, hear things a half mile away, and see in more detail than I ever had, but could I also be strong enough to bite through this animal? Could it be possible that I would be able to destroy it with my teeth as easily as the man in that alley was able to destroy me? I crouched low, my body tired of my thinking, and prepared to spring. I decided that if I wasn't strong enough, it might not be such a bad thing to die. At least I wouldn't be hurting anyone.

Without further thought, I sprung. A vicious snarl ripped through my lips, breaking through the quiet of night. The enormous animal slashed its tail, twisted its body and rose out of the mud, but its defense was no match for my speed. I was on top of it before it was able to comprehend what was really happening.

As soon as I touched it, a picture flashed in my mind. There was sunlight, insects buzzing, and birds chirping. I watched as the alligator I was holding now swung around, capturing an unsuspecting fish from the water. Then, the picture changed to a black night, and I saw flashes of the same scenery I was in now, but from an outside perspective. It ended with a beautiful woman that I didn't recognize biting savagely into the animal's neck.

When the picture disappeared, I blinked my eyes several times in confusion. Though I had been sitting perfectly still for a full ten seconds, the alligator was still thrashing under my grip. It hadn't been able to break free. It snapped at my arm, clamped its jaws onto my skin, and I felt its jaw break with the effort of harming me. Without further hesitation, I bent my mouth to the animal's neck, biting through the thick scales. It was like biting through a piece of bread. My teeth met no resistance. They sunk deeper and deeper until my mouth found its jugular vein. Blood flowed into my mouth, and I swallowed greedily. Soon, it was completely lifeless, and I dropped the corpse, straightening.

My throat still burned, but not nearly as much as before. That confirmed my suspicions. I was…what I had thought. I couldn't bring myself to say the word, even if it was just in my mind. The idea of it was just too bizarre.

I moved to sit on a nearby log, and put my head in my hands. What was I going to do now? Clearly, I wasn't the only one out there. There were at least two others. And there had to be more besides them. I didn't want to wander around by myself, but I was terrified of meeting another…person like me. Would they be friendly? Or would they attack, like I had almost done when I had seen my own family? From what little experience that I had, I knew that they could coexist. There had been two people in the alley that night.

Suddenly, I remembered something. Something that had been tugging at the back of my mind for the past few days while I writhed in pain. The words that the woman's voice had said; what she had shouted to the man over me. _They're here. They've come for us._

What did that mean? Who could she have been talking about? Surely, nothing could injure us. The alligator's teeth had shattered in its effort to bite through my arm. What could possibly have scared someone into running, unless it was another…vampire? I forced myself to think the word, and things suddenly became much clearer. The situation became more real to me.

I sat up straighter, looking around. Somewhere out there, more vampires existed. I needed to find someone. I needed help learning who I was, what I had become. I rose from the log and noticed, for the first time, just how fast I really was moving. As soon as the thought of standing had crossed my mind, I was on my feet. I looked down at my body. I was wearing a thin, white hospital gown and nothing else. If I was going to confront anyone, this definitely wouldn't do.

I thought for a moment, trying my hardest to remember where I might be able to find an empty store. I had no idea where I really was. I began to run again, looking around myself more this time, trying to figure out how far into central Florida I had traveled. I passed over a highway and stopped myself. I had to backtrack about half a mile to get to it again, and I peered through the thick trees that covered the land on either side of the road. I scanned the area for anything indicating the area. My eyes fell on a road sign fifty yards from where I stood.

Kissimmee: 20 miles. I blinked. I really _was _fast. That trip would have taken several hours by car. I now knew that I was near civilization. Lots of civilization. I bit my lip nervously out of habit. I didn't want to make a mistake and hurt anyone, but I needed to find something to wear. I didn't know how long I would be able to hold my breath, but that seemed to keep smells out. I hadn't been able to smell my family until I had taken a breath.

I made my decision and began to follow the highway through the trees. I didn't breathe and was surprised to find that it didn't make it any harder to propel myself forward. My lungs weren't burning like they had before this whole ordeal. The only discomfort it caused was a strange lack of smell.

After no more than two minutes, I came upon a large mall. At this time of night, it would be completely deserted. I crossed the empty parking lot and stopped at the large glass doors. I reached out and grabbed the handle with a normal amount of force. The metal twisted in my hands, forming to the shape of my closed hand.

"Cool," I muttered to myself, staring at my fingers and pulled harder. The door came off its hinges completely. I laughed aloud before launching it into the bushes.

Walking at a pace quicker than I normally would have, but slower than I knew I could, I began passing stores. I stopped outside a PacSun. Not what I would normally have worn, but, then again, I never really paid much attention to what I put on. This store had jeans, shirts, and jackets. Perfect. I put my fingers through the holes in the metal curtain hanging in front of the open store front and pulled my hands apart. It was like ripping through wrapping paper.

Stepping through the hole I had made, I quickly found a T-Shirt and a pair of jeans in my size and went to a dressing room to put them on. With out looking at my reflection, I pulled the pants on. I stared down at my body. They were too big on me. Actually, they were huge on me. About five sizes of extra denim was floating around my body. I turned to look in the mirror and jumped.

"Oh!" I gasped. The person looking back at me was gorgeous. I stared at my reflection for several minutes, not believing it could really be me.

My previously fire-red, frizzy hair had become glossy with a gentle curl. The color had softened a little so it complemented my features better. The bump that had always been in my nose had smoothed to make it pointy and dainty on my face. My lips were fuller. It was also clear that I had lost at least thirty pounds. I had never been fat, but I had never been thin either. Now, I was no bigger than a size three. My skin was a perfect, pale, snowy white. Any sign of a blemish had disappeared. The most noticeable difference though, the one that made me really shocked, was the color of my eyes. They were blazing red.

As I stared at myself, I realized that I had seen myself like this already. When I had touched the alligator, in the pictures that had flashed through my mind. It confused me. What had I seen? The animal's death? But no, I had also seen the day before that. I had seen it's last day alive. Was that normal? Was that all part of the vampire thing? I didn't know. I shook my head and pushed the questions to the back. I had to find clothing and get out of here.

I left the dressing room and walked back to where I had found the jeans. I held up a pair that, three days ago, I never would have been able to pull over my hips. I made stared at them for a brief moment before pulling them on. To my surprise, they slid over my legs with ease and fastened perfectly on my stomach.

"Go figure," I said to my reflection. I quickly found a shirt that would fit me and grabbed a jacket off the rack without trying it on.

On my way out of the store, my eyes fell on the cash register. I bit my lip. I wasn't in favor of stealing. But then I looked down at clothing and reminded myself that I already _was_ stealing. I didn't know how much I would need, so I pried the register open with my fingers and pulled out the entire contents of the drawer. Grabbing a small backpack off a shelf, I stuffed the cash in and turned to leave the store.

Once outside again, I took off. I ran for about an hour before I reached a remote part of a forest somewhere in the Appalachian Mountains. I had just realized that I had no idea what would happen to me when the sun rose in just half an hour. I could already see the sky lightening.


	4. Meeting

**A/N: The beginning of this chapter is sort of a filler, but most of it is important. Oh well. Read it and let me know what you think...pretty please? :) If you do, maybe you'll sparkle too! Okay, probably not, but it _would_ make me happy.**

DISCLAIMER: Everything Twilight belongs to Stephenie Meyer.

**Chapter Four: Meeting**

Everything I had ever known about vampire legend (which wasn't really all that much) had told me that they couldn't go out in the sun. Vampires turned to dust on contact with light. I knew that when morning came, they crawled into coffins and fell into a trance like sleep. But there were no coffins here, and morning was coming fast.

Before I really had the chance to decide what to do about my new problem, the sun was peeking over the top of the mountains. I watched in horror as the beams of light steadily grew closer. I was frozen with fear, convinced I was going to catch fire or turn to ashes or something. Some vampire I was. I had only lasted one night.

I squinted my eyes, bracing myself for some sort of impact. I half expected the burning pain of the last few days to return. I stood for a full five minutes with my eyes squeezed shut, waiting for some sort of scorching. When nothing happened, I peeked open one eye cautiously.

The sight before me took my breath away. I gasped wildly, throwing a hand over my mouth and jumping back. I was sparkling! My skin looked as if it had thousands of tiny facets. It was like I was made out of diamond. A wide smile spread across my face and I began to laugh harder than I had in weeks.

All my worries left my mind as I sat on the edge of the cliff and looked out over the valley below me. The ecstatic giggles that were coming from my mouth echoed from the mountains across from me. My laughter sounded like the tinkling of wind chimes. I had never felt so free in my life. I was virtually indestructible, I was beautiful, _and_ I glittered! This was the life I had always been waiting for.

When I had calmed down from my surprised glee, another vampire legend came to mind. Would I live forever? My stomach leapt at the thought. Forever was a long time. I would be able to do what I wanted. I could see all the things that most people never got to. Would I always be seventeen? Maybe my body was frozen as it was now. Forever seventeen. At least I wouldn't have to deal with menopause. I began laughing again at the ridiculous thought.

I don't know how long I sat on the edge of the cliff, finding new things to wonder at. I couldn't decide if my glittering skin fascinated me more or if it was the new, eighth color I was seeing. I couldn't describe it. There were no words for the new shade.

It wasn't until the sun was sinking again that I rose from where I had been sitting. When I did, I pushed on the earth with my hands. Looking down at my feet, I smiled at the two handprints in the solid stone. _Indestructible._ The word floated through my mind.

While I had been sitting, I came up with a small to-do list in my head. I needed to find another mall tonight that was out of the way of people because I needed a pair of sunglasses. I wasn't planning on going out in the sun in front of people, but I needed to conceal the red color of my eyes if I planned on going anywhere at all. I also needed to find some more clothes.

I had also wondered idly if it was normal for me to be "eating" animals instead of people. The man who had bitten me obviously didn't have any concern for human life, but was I the only one out there who _did_ care about them? Less urgent on my mental list was to discover the answer to this question. I wanted to find people like myself so that I would at least have someone to be with. Loneliness would set in sooner or later. My decision was made. I needed to try my hardest to find vampires who weren't going to be eating people. I wanted no part in that.

That evening, I wandered around at a slower pace than the previous night until I was able to find an empty store in a small roadside town. I grabbed a pair of glasses and a few changes of clothes, which I stuffed in my bag.

I left the store without lingering, not knowing if there were guards around anywhere. It's not that I was afraid of what a guard could do to me. I was more afraid of what _I _could do to the _guard_. I was just leaving the shop when I caught a whiff of something that wasn't animal or human. The smell was much sweeter than anything I had smelled before.

I sniffed at the air, trying to identify it. There were two distinct combinations of scents. One was lighter than the other. It smelled like a mixture of hyacinth and lavender. The other scent was sharper. It stung my nose lightly while still being enjoyable. It was…I sniffed again…leather and…cinnamon? I was aware of the trail that the scents had left across the parking lot, crossing with my own.

That was when my eyes zeroed in on the small, but very nice, car sitting alone in the middle of the parking lot. There were two figures standing by the vehicle. One male, one female. The man was standing in front of the tiny girl in a very protective looking stance, but the girl was peeking around him with an excited sort of expression on her face.

The man's posture immediately made an impression on me. I felt a quick spasm of fear go through my body before it was replaced by an aggressive instinct. A growl rumbled low in my chest. As soon as the feeling had settled itself in me, I could see his muscles tense. He crouched and a low hiss came from his lips.

"Get in the car," he said to the woman behind him, his voice threatening.

"She's not going to attack us, Jasper. We just scared her," the girl responded. "I know what I saw. Just give her a minute."

He glanced briefly at her and took a small step forward. I stiffened. "I'm not going to hurt you," he said to me, his voice ringing clearly across the parking lot. He held his hands in front of him to show that he meant no harm and started towards me. His voice had a rolling southern accent buried underneath its prominent tone. It was like he had been raised in the South, but hadn't returned for many years.

The closer he got, the more my body began to relax. By the time he was standing just a few feet from me, I was completely at ease, though I couldn't quite explain the feeling. As I examined him more closely, my mind told my body to defend itself, but I couldn't get the proper emotion worked up. The defensiveness came from the scars that were covering his body. His neck, face, arms, everything, were covered in thousands of crescent shaped marks.

I hadn't noticed the small, pixie-like girl approach until she was standing by his side, grinning from ear to ear. "Hi," she said, waving a little, "My name is Alice."

"Hello?" It came out sounding like a question. Now that I was calmed down, the fear had left me. I was mostly confused by this point.

"We're here to take you home with us. We know that you've been trying to find us," she told me.

I was taken aback. "I don't even know who you are. How have I been looking for you?" I asked her.

"Well, some time today, you must have made the decision to try to find vampires who resist human blood. Once someone makes a decision, I can see the outcome of it," she told me, as if this were obvious.

"Well, that doesn't really tell me why you're here," I said slowly, trying to make sense of her words. "Do you mean you can see the future?"

"Yeah. And once you knew you wanted to find people, I saw you. We're the only group of vampires who does. Well, us and one other smaller group in Alaska."

My eyes shifted between her face and the scarred man, who was still standing with his arms crossed and tensed.

She followed my gaze. "Oh, Jasper, stop it. She's fine. Can't you tell how controlled she is?"

He looked at her, keeping me in his peripheral vision. "She's not Bella, Alice. She didn't have the time to prepare herself for this. There's no way that she _can_ be controlled. It's just not natural."

I frowned. Who was he to call me unnatural? "What's that supposed to mean?" I asked defensively.

He looked up in surprise, like he hadn't expected me to be listening to them. "Nothing. It's just that I've been around a lot of newborn vampires, and they're very rarely as…civilized as you're acting right now. Your bloodlust should be uncontrollable. Every human within half a mile of you would be in danger if you were behaving normally."

"I woke up in a room with four of them, and I got away clean," I mumbled, slightly insulted by his assumption.

Both of their eyes widened in shock. "How…what…seriously?" the small girl, Alice, asked.

"Yeah, seriously. I mean, they were my family. It's not like I was going to kill them or anything. I was a vegetarian when I was…still human." It felt so weird for me to think of myself as anything _but_ human. "I ran until I found an alligator. It was the first big thing I could get to." I shrugged lightly.

She laughed lightly. "An alligator? Where did you come from?"

"Florida. I've been wandering around the past few days. Where are we right now?" I had just realized that I had no idea.

"The middle of Virginia," Alice replied. Then, to the man, Jasper, I think, she said, "You see? I told you she would be alright."

He didn't respond, but he visually relaxed a bit. "I'm Jasper. I'm sorry about my…rudeness. It's just, I've never seen anyone be as controlled as you are right now." He reached his hand out to shake mine, and I took it hesitantly.

What happened when I did shocked me so much that my first instinct was to pull back immediately. When I tried, though, it was impossible. It was like my hand was fused with his. When my skin met his, the result was similar to what had happened when I touched the alligator from the previous night, but the images were much clearer. It was as if I had been transported somewhere and was living the scene in front of me.

Jasper was sitting atop a horse, but it took me a moment to realize it really was him. He looked so much different from his current self that it was hard to recognize. His eyes were a bright, scorching blue, and his body was free of scars. He was wearing what looked like a grey soldier's uniform, and I assumed he was directing battle.

"Alright, men," he said, addressing the crowd of soldiers standing around him. "This is it. We will fight today like we've never fought before. This is the big one. Let's get out there and win this!" His Southern accent was much more prominent than when he had spoken earlier.

A rowdy cheer rose from the gathered group and a battle song started up. He turned his horse around, away from his men briefly, and the expression on his face made my heart break. I didn't know this man virtually at all, but the emotions coming from him were nearly tangible. I could tell how scared and unsure and nervous he felt just by looking at him. He quickly composed himself and turned again.

I looked around and saw that about two hundred men were dropping into a formation. At the front of the group, several men were holding what I now recognized as Confederate flags. Just as they began marching, the scene morphed.

I was standing on a dirt road during the night. I wheeled around when I heard footsteps coming my way, and saw that it was Jasper, leading his horse by its reins. He was walking slowly and had a slight limp, something that was absent from his gait now. His blue eyes were hardened and he was staring at the ground in front of him.

There were three more sets of footsteps behind me, lighter this time. I recognized them as the steps of a vampire. I turned quickly and saw three girls approaching quickly. He hadn't noticed them. I wanted to scream, to stop him from walking right into their hands, but I couldn't make a sound. I watched in horror as they led him away, and the picture faded to darkness before disappearing altogether.

I stood frozen for a few seconds, readjusting to my surroundings, before I noticed that he was wincing slightly and trying to twist out of my grasp. Too late, I realized I had been gripping his hand with all my strength, and released him. I didn't know what to say. Questions swirled in my mind. i couldn't decide which to ask first.

"You were a soldier?" I asked finally, looking at him curiously. "A…Confederate soldier?"

He stopped flexing his hand (my grip must have been pretty hard) and stared. "What did you say?"

"You fought. In the Civil War. You were in some sort of commanding position, but you hated it," I told him.

The girl was staring at me now, too.

"How long was I squeezing your hand?" I asked in wonder.

"It was only about five seconds. Longer than a normal handshake, but nothing completely weird," Alice answered for him.

"Yeah, five seconds of you attempting to squeeze my hand off," he added. "How do you know all that? What did you see when you were touching me?"

"I…it was like I was standing on a battlefield watching you. You said something about it being a big battle, and then a bunch of people cheered," I recalled. "And then there were vampires. Three of them. They found you later that night."

"Amazing," he muttered under his breath. "My last day alive. You probably saw it clearer than I could ever remember it."

"Ooh, try it again. See if it works every time she touches you," Alice said, suddenly excited.

Jasper grimaced. "Why don't you just tell us if it will work? I don't want her to rip my arm off on accident."

I smiled apologetically and Alice laughed lightly. "No, it won't. It's only the first time she touches people. She sees their last day alive, I guess."

"I'll try to avoid touching anyone, then," I said.

"No, I _want _you to touch me," Alice said firmly. "I don't know anything about my human life. It would be great to know something about what happened to me. Even if it is only a day's worth." She reached a hand out to me cautiously, but curiously.

I offered my arm, not wanting to worry about hurting her. She grasped it firmly, and I was swept into another unfamiliar scene. I looked around and, judging by the stark white walls, I was in a hospital. Lying on a bed near me was Alice, her small features much less defined than they were now, but her hair was the same short, spiky style.

She appeared to be sleeping, but she was muttering to herself.

"He's coming," she said. "He's coming. He's coming." She kept repeating herself over and over again, and began tossing in her bed.

Suddenly, her lids flew open, and I could see her unfocused brown eyes rolling around the room. "He's coming!" she began screaming. Thrashing wildly, she attempted to get up, but I saw the fabric cuffs holding her down.

A nurse dressed in an old fashioned uniform rushed in, holding a syringe. She shoved it into Alice's arm without much hesitation, and the girl on the bed slowly quieted. With her drug induced slumber, I felt the picture growing black. It faded to a man standing over her in a different room, about to sink his teeth into her neck, and then disappeared completely.

I gasped and took a step back from her once I had resurfaced. "You were in a hospital bed and you were screaming," I said.

Her face fell. "Is that all you saw?" she asked, as if she had already known this.

"Yes," I said, shuddering at the clear memory of the wild, crazed look in her rolling eyes. "Yeah, that's it. Sorry."

"No, it's not your fault. I just always try to find out as much as I can," she said, waving my apology away. "I guess I just hoped for something new. Well, now that we've gotten that over with, I can touch you for real." She unexpectedly and suddenly threw her arms around my neck, squeezing me in a hug.

I awkwardly patted her back. "What was that for?" I asked when she pulled back.

"Well, I was welcoming you to the family, silly. We're going to be sisters. I saw it hours ago."


	5. Questions Answered

**A/N: Okay, it's great that people are reading this, and it makes me super happy that people are reviewing, but it would be super awesome if I got _more_ reviews. Because I'm selfish like that. And because how else will I know what I need to do better on if nobody tells me?**

**bloodsucker13: I made this one longer! I was actually kind of afraid of making them too long and was trying to hold back a bit.**

**THIS CHAPTER AND ON CONTAINS BREAKING DAWN SPOILERS**

DISCLAIMER: Twilight and all things related to it belongs to Stephenie Meyer

**Chapter Five: Questions Answered**

On the car ride to the Cullen home, I learned a lot about the people that Alice claimed would become my new family. Carlisle was their center, their guide. He was a very old but very kind man. She told me how he had found the rest of their family in the last moments of their lives and changed them into what they were today.

I began to feel anxious that I would stick out in the group. I wasn't really one of them.

"Don't worry so much," Jasper said quietly, smiling at me over the back of his seat.

"How…?" I questioned, taken aback.

"I'm an empath," he explained. I was still confused. "It means I can feel emotions. And I can change them, too, if I want to." As he spoke, I felt an odd sort of calm settle over us.

"Oh, is that you doing that?" I asked, laughing a little. "I thought I was just going crazy."

Alice smiled, happy that we were getting along, and continued with her stories.

She told me about how Edward, one of their brothers, had unexpectedly found love with Bella, a human girl who had moved to their last high school. She smiled brightly when she talked about them, and I could tell she was very fond of his new wife. She continued on about the new and even more surprising addition to their family: Renesmee. I learned all about Bella's troubled pregnancy, Edward's guilt over the matter, and the resulting baby girl. She told me about the unusual relationship between Bella's best friend, Jacob, and her daughter.

Alice talked so much that, by the time we turned onto a long driveway somewhere in the middle of Oregon a day and a half later, I felt like I had already known them all for years.

"You'll have to excuse the boxes," Alice said cheerfully as we wound through a tree lined path. "We're just moving in. We had a very public…accident in our last home and had to relocate."

"What happened?" I asked curiously.

"Emmett threw a snowball at Jasper and he ducked," she said, shrugging. "When it hit the tree behind him, the trunk split and the tree was uprooted."

"Oh," I said, trying not to laugh too hard. I was feeling a little hyper from being cooped up in Alice's little Porsche and from the nerves caused by preparing to meet so many people at once. "That's…a lot better than what I thought you were going to say. I was afraid it would be something bad."

"You should have seen the faces of the humans who saw it," Alice laughed.

"I've never felt so much shock coming at me at once," Jasper added. "Everyone just sort of stood there with their mouths hanging open. We cleared out as soon as we could."

I felt the car come to a halt, and I looked out the window at an enormous cream colored home. My nerves suddenly doubled and I was sure that, if my heart was still beating, it would have leapt to my throat. Once again, I felt Jasper's odd flow of calm come over me, and I relaxed a little.

Alice danced up the steps and reached for the front door. It was opened before she could reach the knob. In the doorway stood a motherly woman with caramel covered hair who looked, as I had come to expect from my experience with vampires, like she had just stepped from the pages of Vogue. Her eyes focused on me, and a genuine smile lit up her features.

"You must be Joline," she said, and her smile brightened even more. "My name is Esme."

"Jo," I said automatically in a small voice. "Thank you for having me. Your home is so beautiful."

"Alice told us all about you on the phone. We're so happy you're here," she told me, and I knew she wasn't lying. She reached her arms out to hug me, and I glanced at Alice, who gave me a reassuring nod and a push on the back.

I accepted her embrace and tried my hardest to ignore the flashes of a human Esme with swollen eyes and a dead child in her arms. I tried not to see her flinging herself off a cliff, either, but the pictures flashed just the same. When she released me, I felt Jasper calming me down. I smiled thankfully at him.

"Please, come in," she said, putting a comforting arm around me before leading me into a huge living room.

I glanced around and noticed more people scattered on the many couches and chairs. Every face was turned in my direction. I didn't miss three of the men in the room stand and move protectively in front of one of the girls. I guessed that this must be Renesmee, the half-human daughter.

_I'm not going to hurt her_, I thought, staring pointedly at the redhead, who looked no older than me.

He made no acknowledgment of my words, though they were clearly meant for him. I held his defensive gaze for a moment before looking at my feet, biting my lip lightly.

"I didn't mean make her upset," I heard a voice say, but I still didn't look up.

There was silence for a few seconds before someone else spoke. "I'm never going shopping with you again, Alice," said a woman's voice, and she laughed lightly. "You go for shoes, and come home with a person."

Alice smiled back, and I felt the tension in the room lessen a bit. "You know me. I'm such a good Samaritan."

"I'm Bella," said the brunette girl who had spoken. "It's so nice to meet you."

I returned her smile, and she offered her hand. Her expression told me she knew what was coming, and I tried not to grimace as I touched her lightly. I watched her vomit blood, saw Jacob and Edward rush to her side, and saw a baby Renesmee being handed over.

When I resurfaced, I glanced at the boy who I assumed to be Edward warily. His face was tortured and pained, and I knew I had guessed correctly. _Sorry_, I thought.

I tried to hold his gaze once more, but I found myself looking at the floor again.

"Is she trying to destroy me?"I heard his voice ask. "It's not her fault any more than it is yours for seeing it in her head," he continued, seeming to argue with himself.

I looked around the room. No one seemed to think it was strange for him to talk like this. Was he always this insane? Did he always think out loud? And why was he talking about me like I wasn't here? Like I couldn't hear his every word?

"I wasn't talking at all," he said, his voice ringing with confusion. The tone of it was slightly different than what I had heard him use before.

Everyone in the room looked between the two of us, trying to figure out what we were talking about. The tension level skyrocketed again. There was silence for a moment before Alice gasped.

"Edward," she whispered, her small hand flying to her mouth, and her eyes darting between us in shock.

He stared intently at her for a moment, before his own eyes widened in shock. He looked at me, his mouth slightly open, and took a hesitant step forward.

The rest of the family was completely lost. "Will somebody please tell me what's going on?" asked the tall, blonde woman.

Edward ignored her, and continued toward me, stretching his hand out as he came. It was like he was a child seeing snow for the first time. Like I was completely foreign to him. A small, crooked smile came to his face as he got closer to me, and I blinked in surprise. This was such a complete turn around from his attitude just minutes before that it took me completely off guard.

"Edward?" Bella asked uncertainly. "Are you okay?"

He ignored her, too, which surprised me even more. Without further hesitation, I felt his long fingers wrapping firmly around my forearm, and I was swept away again.

My eyes immediately found him. He was lying in a bed, coughing. Fragile, frail, and pathetic looking, his entire body heaved with each breath he drew. I could see the sweat beading on his forehead, and his cheeks were flushed. I recognized the tall, blonde man kneeling by his bedside as Carlisle, though I hadn't met him in person yet.

When his pale hand reached out to Edward's forehead, feeling it gently, the cool touch woke him. He opened his eyes slowly, as if the effort took all his strength. I gasped when his green eyes opened completely. The sparkling, emerald color was exactly the same as my own had been.

"Doctor Cullen," he said, his voice coming out as a quiet whisper, and he coughed again.

"Yes, Edward, I'm here. What is it?" Carlisle asked in a soft voice.

"It's my," he broke into a fit of coughing, his entire body moving, before he fell trembling to his pillows. "My mother," he continued. "Where is she? They took her away this morning."

"She's…in a better place right now," Carlisle said, and I could tell why Alice had described him as compassionate. That had been an under statement.

Edward's eyes moved slowly to a small picture by his bedside. "My Aunt Catherine, then. Tell her I'll miss her. Tell her." He was coughing again, and I felt so much sympathy for him. I wanted to reach out and comfort the poor, broken boy in the bed. "Tell her I love her and that I'm sorry."

His eyes slipped shut again, and the scene slowly faded. Before it completely disappeared, though, my eyes fell on the framed photo on the table next to him. I blinked, and I was in the Cullen living room. The boy in front of me was Edward, but he was different. He was no longer dying, no longer frail, no longer an inch from death.

I took a slow, steadying breath, before the reality of the situation completely hit me.

_W—why did you have a picture of my Great Grandma Cathy?_ I thought in complete shock, too overwhelmed to speak aloud.

He grinned. "Because she was my Aunt Catherine," he told me.

_No. I have that picture in my room at home. It was the same one. In the same frame, even. She's _my _Great Grandma_, I thought.

"And your Grandmother's name is Elise, am I correct?" he asked me, his smile growing brighter.

My eyes widened. "Oh my God," I whispered.

"What is going on? Will someone please tell me?" a deep voice asked. I glanced up at the Native American man, but turned back to Edward without answering him.

_So…you're…oh my God_, I repeated.

He nodded.

I squealed in delight, flinging my arms around his neck. He laughed aloud, and his arms wrapped around my waist, squeezing me tightly.

"Edward? What's going on?" Bella's voice asked, and I could hear an undertone of alarm in her voice.

I slowly released him, and took a step back, my face bright with a smile. I could understand where they were a little confused, but hadn't they gotten the drift of what was happening from Edward's spoken words?

"They didn't hear me any more than they heard you," he said, and my eyes flashed to his face, my eyebrows scrunching together in confusion. "I wasn't talking."

That's when I noticed his lips weren't moving.

"I need to sit down," I mumbled, sinking into the nearest arm chair.

"Seriously, can someone explain to me what just happened?" Bella asked again, coming to Edward's side.

We glanced at each other, and he started explaining too quickly for human ears to understand out of his excitement.

"My Aunt Catherine, who was my mother's sister, had a daughter named Elise. We took piano lessons together when we were young, and we used to play in the mud together." He smiled at the memory. "When my mother became ill, Catherine took me in as her own son. She tried her hardest to keep me alive, but it wasn't long before I got the flu, too, and was sent to the hospital alongside my parents. Elise wasn't allowed to see me, because they were afraid she would get sick as well, but she visited me when she could sneak away from her mother, and brought me flowers and different things, trying to keep my spirits up. One of the things she brought was a picture of her mother, which sat by my bed."

I took up the story from there. "The same picture is sitting by my bed at my old home. It's the exact same, in the same frame. My Grandma used to tell me stories about her cousin Edward, and how he had died when he was only seventeen, but I had no idea what had really happened." I shook my head, hardly daring to believe it myself. "She died six years ago, when she was one hundred six. She lived a really long life, and died peacefully." I directed my next statement to Edward. "She told me you were her best friend, and that a day didn't go by that she didn't think of you."

_Tell them about the talking thing,_ I thought excitedly.

_I don't really know what's going on any better than you do,_ he directed back at me, and shrugged.

_Well, I don't know what to say._

"She can hear my thoughts, too," he said aloud, smiling.

Everyone stared. "How is that possible?" Esme asked, but I could see her happiness building.

"I have no idea," he responded, "but I think it has something to do with us being family."

Alice grinned. "I told you she would be a member of the family," she said, looking proudly at us. "I mean, look at you two! I think we've got another potential set of twins on our hands. The Hales, the Cullens, and…the Masens. Yeah, it'll work."

_What's she talking about?_ I asked Edward.

_Hold that thought. Carlisle's home._

I listened intently, and heard a car approaching the house. I was suddenly nervous again, but I relaxed once I remembered the kind eyes of the man in the hospital. The door opened a few seconds later, and he there he stood.

"Why's everyone in here?" he asked before he noticed me. "Oh! You must be Joline. Welcome. My name is Carlisle."

I smiled. "Thank you. It's nice to meet you."

"Carlisle, you wont believe what's just happened," Edward said, turning to his father.

"What is it, son?" he asked, his concern disappearing when he saw Edward's smile.

We relayed the story to him, and his eyes widened slightly. "Well, that certainly is new," he said, moving to sit on the couch across from my chair. "Joline, I'm sure you've got more questions than you know how to ask, but I'm here to answer them all for you."

His helpful nature comforted me, and I realized that my mind was indeed flooded with ideas, but I had been able to put them aside in my surprise. "Why do I sparkle?" I blurted out.

The tall, burly dark haired man in front of Renesmee finally relaxed and, with a laugh at my question, plopped into a chair.

"We don't really know _why_," Carlisle said. "We think that it's because our skin is so close to the consistency of diamond that the sun reacts in a similar way. I'm sure you've noticed how impenetrable your body is?"

"Yeah, an alligator broke its jaw on my arm," I said, laughing. The tension in the room was finally starting to disappear, and I was relaxing. "Is that normal? Am I supposed to be this strong? I hurt Jasper on accident when I first met him."

Jacob's eyes went to Jasper's face, and he rolled his eyes. He let out a bark-like chuckle, and put an arm around Renesmee's shoulders, guiding her to a couch.

Carlisle smiled. "Yes, it is normal for you to be stronger than an older vampire for the first few months of your new life. A diet of animal blood weakens you faster, but you'll still be strong enough to bite through steel without too much effort."

My eyes widened. "I didn't even know I was that strong_ now_," I said, smiling.

"You'll have to challenge Emmett to an arm wrestling competition," Renesmee said, smiling. "Mom beat him in her first week, and he freaked out."

Emmett glared playfully at her before turning to me. "You game?" he asked, smiling.

"Maybe later," I squeaked. I had to admit, he looked pretty strong. I was kind of afraid of what he could do to me. I turned back to Carlisle. "You said animal blood will weaken me faster. Faster than what?"

"Well, faster than a diet of human blood would," he said, as if it were obvious. "As I'm sure Alice and Jasper told you, that's how we lead our lives. We stay away from human blood in an effort to live in a more civilized manner."

I shuddered. "I think I'll be able to refrain."

"No one will hold it against you if you do slip up a few times," he assured me, his eyes darting to Edward. "We've all made our mistakes."

_I had a rebellious stage_, Edward said in response to my gaze following Carlisle's.

_Oh. _"Well, I was able to leave my family alive. Alice told you on the phone. I don't really know why everyone's so surprised by that. Am I not normal?" I asked, voicing my concerns from the past few days.

"No, it isn't natural," Carlisle responded, and my face fell. "But in the best way possible," he added quickly, seeing my expression. "You're almost…too controlled. It's amazing. It's the way Bella was when she woke, but you haven't had the time to prepare like she did. How did you do it?" He seemed fascinated by my restraint.

"Well, when I was human, I never really ate meat. At all. So I guess I already had some sort of repulsion to blood, but it transferred into some kind of control? Does that make sense? What's a normal person like?" I asked. I was curious to know.

Carlisle looked at his hands when he spoke. "A new born vampire is very wild. Almost completely uncontrollable. It is usually hard for a person to resist the allure of blood, especially that of a human, until they are almost a decade old."

Edward cleared his throat. "Carlisle, if you don't mind, I'd like to show her what I was like," he said.

"By all means," he responded, waving his hand.

_Are you ready? _he asked me.

I nodded. Suddenly my mind was filled with pictures again, almost as vividly as when I touched someone for the first time.

The room was dark. It was a small city apartment. Curled in the corner, more creature than person, was Edward, his eyes vividly red and wild. His thin arms were wrapped around his knees and his beady eyes darted from place to place, never resting on any one thing for more than a second. He was scratching at his skin fiercely like a person coming down from an incredible amount of drugs. He muttered to himself unintelligibly.

The point of view that I was seeing this from glanced nervously to a door and then back to Edward, who had frozen completely. He was sitting as still as a statue, his eyes fixed on the wall across from him. He was on his feet in the smallest fraction of a second. I realized now that I must be seeing this from 

Carlisle's memory. As Edward started toward the wall, Carlisle slammed into him with a sound like a clap of thunder.

"Edward, think of what you are about to do. That is a person over there, with a life and a family. You can't steal that," Carlisle said, trying to soothe him with words.

Reason was beyond Edward. His teeth snapped viciously at the other man's shoulder, and he sunk his jaws into his left forearm.

The memory stopped abruptly. Before I knew what was happening, I had my arms around his neck again. "That was horrible," I whispered into his shoulder.

When I pulled back from my vice grip on him, the family around me had sympathetic looks on their faces. They didn't know what I had seen exactly, but they could guess from their own experiences.

"Now I get why everyone was so surprised," I said in a quiet voice. The sound of Edward's crazed screaming still rung in my ears. "Wow." It was all I could say.

"Yes, you are an interesting one," Carlisle commented. My eyes went to his arm, and I noticed the two raised crescent shapes that I hadn't seen before.

There was silence for a few seconds in which I decided what to ask next. "Will I live forever?" I questioned, looking around the room.

"Yeah. Your body will never change. It's frozen like it is now," Rosalie told me, speaking directly to me for the first time since I had entered the house.

The questions went on for hours. We all sat in a circle talking well into the night. I hadn't noticed how long we had been sitting until the sky outside began to lighten again.

"That's going to take some getting used to," I muttered, chuckling under my breath.

"What?" Emmett asked me.

"Not sleeping. It's weird to know I'll never be able to again," I said, stretching my body unnecessarily. At some point in the night, Renesmee and Jacob had taken their leave and gone upstairs to bed.

"Yeah, it was weird at first. Now I'm so used to it that I hardly notice anymore," he recalled.

"Hey, Alice?" I asked, suddenly remembering a comment she had made earlier.

"Hmm?"

"What did you mean before when you said we had another set of twins?"

"Oh, that. When we go to school, people always assume that Jasper and Rose are twins because they're blonde. People are going to assume you and Edward are, too, because you look so much alike," she told 

me. "The rest of us just go with Cullen. We were 'separately adopted,' or at least that's what we tell people."

"Esme, how long is it going to be before we go to school again?" Jasper grumbled.

"It's so tedious," Rosalie added.

Esme stuck her head into the room, her hair pulled back. She had been in another room, unpacking boxes slowly for a few hours. "You're registered to start on the first of March. That's two weeks from now."

Everyone, with the exception of me, groaned. "Why is school so bad?" I asked.

"We've all been through high school at least a dozen times," Alice said. "Well, except Bella. She's only been twice."

"I wish I could just get a mechanic's job like Jake does," Emmett grumbled. "Stupid mutt."

Edward smiled. "That's my son-in-law you're talking about," he joked.

Bella laughed. "I still can't get over how well the two of you have taken to each other. It's amazing."

"Oh! I've just remembered! We need to go shopping for your back to school wardrobe, Joline," Alice exclaimed out of nowhere.

Everyone rolled their eyes. "Welcome to the Cullen family," Jasper said, laughing at his petite wife.


	6. Family

**A/N: Okay, so I moved all of my Vanishing Acts photos to my flickr account, and the link is on my profile page. There are pictures of all the Cullens, their house, all the rooms...you know. Everything. So yeah. Umm...the next few chapters might come out kind of slow because I'm trying to cram my summer AP English assignment into this coming week before I start school again. So yeah. Sorry.**

**bloodsucker13: So forceful! Lol. I did it! Yay!**

**DazzlingTopaz1901: Thanks! That's what I was going for. You know...amazing. Haha. I try.**

DISCLAIMER: Twilight and all related characters belong to Stephenie Meyer.

**Chapter Six: Family**

The next two weeks of my life were like vampire boot camp. None of the Cullens had gone into public so quickly after being turned. Even Bella, who I learned had possessed the most control of all of them, had waited a year before going back to school. I started my "training" the morning after I arrived.

We had just finished our conversation from the night before, and everyone was wandering off to do their own thing for a while when Carlisle came back in the room, smiling widely.

"Alright, Joline. We're going to get you ready for human interaction more quickly than I had thought we would be able to," he told me.

"Okay. How?" I asked, biting my lip lightly.

"Well, first of all, you're going hunting with Edward, Bella, and Jasper in a few minutes. They just went upstairs to get ready to leave," he said. "Then I want you to try doing some normal human things. You know, like picking things up and writing."

"Why do I need to practice that?"

"You're much stronger than you ever imagined right now, and you'll have to practice not breaking things when you use them," he explained.

"Oh. Am I really that strong?" I questioned him with an excited glint in my eye.

He laughed. "Yes. You'll need to work on it a little, but I'm pretty sure you should be able to manage control."

"I hope so," I murmured. His memory of Edward in that first year was still in the front of my mind.

_Don't worry about that_, he said from upstairs. _You're nothing like I was. You're going to do just fine._

_Thanks_. _I'm just kind of…nervous is all._

_Yeah, I know. It's going to be fine._

I was about to go into a worried spin when I heard footsteps from upstairs, and I glanced at the top of the stairs. Alice came darting into the room on the phone, arguing very quickly in what sounded like fluent French.

"What the…" I started to ask, but trailed off in confusion.

I watched her pacing around the room, zipping between the fireplace and a small table with a vase of flowers on it.

"Oui…Oui…Oui," she was saying, pausing between each word to allow the person on the other end to speak. Even though she finally seemed to be agreeing with whoever it was, she was still talking in a clipped tone and gesturing with her hands. "Oui. Merci. Au revoir."

She snapped her phone shut and rolled her eyes. "The stupid French rental car company wasn't going to let me get anything because I'm 'under age,'" she said with a grimace and air quotes. "I had to convince them otherwise and bribe them."

"Why don't you just steal a car again, Alice?" Bella asked mockingly as she walked down the stairs with Edward.

"I don't want to make Jo a criminal on her first trip overseas," she said, laughing at Bella's remark.

"You made me one. _And _you got a new Porsche out of it," she argued back.

"Well, you know me. I like to switch things up a little."

"Wait, what do you mean 'my first trip overseas?'" I interrupted, my excitement growing.

"Well, I told you I was going to take you back to school shopping," Alice said, a grin spreading across her face. "I'm taking you in traditional Cullen style."

"Where are we going? I thought you meant we would go somewhere local. Like, you know, in the state."

"Oh, that's boring. You can go to Portland or whatever any time you want. We're going to Paris," she told me.

I quickly learned that the Cullens didn't just have one big house and a lot of nice things. They had millions and millions of dollars under various accounts in different states under random aliases that they were more than willing to share with me. I could hardly believe that these were the people that were so willingly taking me in as family. I wasn't an incredibly materialistic person, but I had never had the means to be. I had never had enough money to go shopping at the upscale stores in Miami, much less in Europe. If someone had told me just a week ago that I would be in this situation, I would have laughed and told them to get a grip on reality.

I was so excited about the coming trip that the next ten days flew by without much notice. They were a happy blur of hunting, wrestling Emmett, and being taught to fight more effectively by Jasper, then fighting Emmett more and winning. I felt so comfortable in this new life that it was hard to imagine I had ever felt nervous about fitting in. Esme had gone out of her way to make me feel at home and had set up a bedroom for me, complete with a queen size bed that I would never sleep in and shelves that she had told me I was welcome to fill with books or CD's or anything I wanted. I already thought of her as a second mother.

Three hours before our flight took off, we were packing Alice's car with our small suitcases when Bella came outside with a guilty look on her face.

"What's wro—," Alice began, but broke off when her face became momentarily distant, and I knew she was seeing something. "Oh, Bella! Come on!" she suddenly yelled.

"I'm sorry, Alice, but I need to pick up Jo's papers?" Her excuse came out sounding like a question.

"Yeah, right. Jasper could do that," Alice replied, rolling her eyes. "You just don't want to go shopping with us. And you're taking Ness with you too? Seriously, that excuse is an insult to my intelligence."

"Then I want to visit Charlie. Is that such a bad reason?" she asked desperately.

"You really hate shopping, don't you?" I asked, laughing.

"You have no idea," Alice muttered to me in the voice of a tortured soul.

I smiled. "I don't mind if you don't come. It wont matter either way," I told Bella

"Whose side are you on?" Alice asked me incredulously. "Rose, can I get some back up here?"

Rosalie came out the front door carrying a suitcase and stood next to Bella. "What, is she trying to back out again?"

"Yeah. And she's taking Nessie with her," Alice said throwing her hands in the air.

"Well, I think they should come. You already booked the flight and everything," she said, laughing at the look on Bella's face.

"_Thank_ you. Finally someone agrees with me."

"Now, Alice. Bella doesn't have to go if she doesn't want to. It's her own choice. If she wants to visit Charlie, then she's allowed to. The same goes for Renesmee," Esme said, walking out of the house and down the steps to the car.

Bella came streaking down after her, and threw her arms around Esme's waist. "Thank you, thank you, thank you," she said.

Esme laughed. "No need to thank me. You can make your own decisions." But she hugged her back just the same.

"Ugh," Alice grumbled. "Let's just go. Bella, I am going to get you to go with us one of these days."

"Edward, Jake, we're going to Seattle," Bella said in a slightly louder voice, ignoring Alice's threat.

The four of us climbed into the car and left soon after that. The ride to the airport was a quick one because of Alice's fast driving. I was nervous. There wasn't much of a way around it. This was my first venture into a crowded public place since I had woken up on a bed almost three weeks ago. They had been taking me to places with humans, but never for this long, and never this many at once. I didn't voice my concerns and, for once, I was thankful that I was far enough away from Edward that he couldn't hear me thinking about it. I didn't want to let my new family down.

When we parked our car and made our way into the airport, I was immediately surprised by the looks we were getting. Since I hadn't spent a whole lot of time around people, I had almost forgotten that we were beautiful to them. It had floated to the back of my mind. I had been spending so much time in a 

house full of vampires that I just didn't notice it as much anymore. I wasn't sure if I should have been flattered or annoyed.

On one hand, there were the boys my age who never would have looked twice at me when I was human, but were now standing with their mouths hanging open as the four of us glided past. They held no interest for me, but it still made me happy in a weird, slightly twisted way. On the other, there was the man behind the counter checking boarding passes who couldn't have been younger than fifty, but stared none the less. It was all a little overwhelming.

By the time that we settled into our first class seats, I was holding my breath. I didn't know if I trusted myself in this small, contained space for such a long period of time.

Esme, who was sitting next to me, noticed this and patted my hand reassuringly. "Honey, I'm sure you're going to be fine," she said calmly.

Alice turned around in her seat, sticking her head between her's and Rosalie's seats. "You'll be fine if you breathe. It'll be easier than you expected," she said confidently.

Having a psychic to reassure you can really help sometimes. Cautiously, I took a small breath in through my nose. It burned the back of my throat painfully. It was about the same as inhaling a strong chemical directly, but no worse than that. I smiled to myself and muttered, "I think I can do this."

Alice gave me a wide smile before turning back around, and I heard Rosalie laugh lightly. Esme nodded encouragingly then turned to the window and shut her eyes. If I hadn't known any better, I would have thought she had gone to sleep.

The plane ride was much easier than I had thought. I found that if I kept myself busy, the fire in the back of my throat dulled a little, so I read the magazine in the back of Rosalie's seat. I finished that quickly, though, and was just trying to find something else to occupy my time when the flight attendant came around to take drink orders.

When he stopped at our row, he smiled down at me with a little too much enthusiasm. "What can I get _you_?" he asked me in what I'm sure he thought was a seductive tone.

I rolled my eyes too quickly for him to see. "Oh, nothing for me, thanks," I said without paying him much attention.

"Are you sure there isn't _anything_ I can get you?" he asked again, looking down at me suggestively.

I opened my mouth to tell him to go away when he reached down and put his hand on my shoulder lightly. My expression became unfocused and there he was, standing on the plane. I was confused for a moment, because it didn't seem like I had left the real world at all. That vanished, though, as I watched myself launching my body at the man. I gasped in horror as the picture floated back to normal.

It took me half a second to comprehend the fact that Esme had her hands locked firmly around my wrists, and Alice had shoved the man out of the way and was standing in front of him, staring at me with 

wide eyes, and pretending to reach into the overhead compartment. Rosalie got out of her seat swiftly and pushed past him, moving him even further down the aisle on her way to the bathroom.

He shot an offended look at them before continuing with his rounds.

"Thanks, guys," I mumbled. I was ashamed of myself to say the least, and I could still feel the warmth of his hand on my shoulder. "I'm so sorry."

"Don't you dare apologize," Esme told me kindly, still not releasing my hands. I wasn't so sure if I wanted her to.

"I think it was just because I was already annoyed with him," I said. "And I wasn't expecting it. I've been fine before when I've touched humans."

"It's not your fault," Alice said quietly. "Really, don't worry about it. It's just lucky I saw it coming."

"Yeah. Lucky." But I couldn't help feel like it _was _all my fault. For the rest of the flight, I sat in silence, staring at my hands and concentrating on my burning throat. I told myself that I was going to have to learn to handle this. I had to handle it or I had to live in isolation. I cared too much about my new family to risk blowing their cover if I knew I couldn't handle being in public. I could almost see Bella in my mind, telling me to stop acting so much like Edward. Maybe being a masochist runs in the family.

Being in Paris was like a dream. We went up and down the Champs-Elysees, flitting in and out of designer boutiques. We bought what we liked and, for once in my life, I paid no mind to the numbers on the cash register.

It may sound like I was being greedy, but I really wasn't. Alice was shoving the clothing into my hands. She was almost as excited as I was about this trip, and kept talking about how she finally had a new shopping buddy. Bella almost always found an excuse to back out.

But, as I waited in the fitting room of an upscale store for Alice to bring me another armload of clothes to try on, I understood Bella's reasoning. I wasn't going to bring Alice down from her shopping induced high, but it did seem like a little much. Did I really need the pair of nine hundred euro jeans that she had bought me in the last store? Still, it was nice to pay for everything with black plastic.

Rosalie, Alice, and Esme all left the clothes that they had brought with them at a homeless shelter in Paris, and filled their suitcases with their new purchases. But, since I was 'starting from scratch,' as Alice had put it, they donated my suitcase with my clothes. Rosalie picked out three new Louis Vuitton full size suitcases for me to bring my things home in, and I still had to cram.

"Alice, is all of this really necessary?" I asked as she tossed me piece after piece for me to fold and pack away.

"Of course it is. Don't you dare turn into Bella on me," she warned menacingly.

"But I feel bad spending your money like this," I told her.

"Nonsense. It's your money as much as it is mine," she said, hurling a Chanel tunic dress at me.

I caught it out of the air before it hit me in the face. I looked around our hotel suite and sighed. "It's not that I don't appreciate you guys taking me in like this, but I didn't earn any of this money. You guys have been saving up for who knows how long, and here I am spending everything."

The stream of clothing flying at my head stopped. Alice laughed aloud; the soprano tinkling of bells echoed from the walls of the otherwise empty room. (Rosalie and Esme had gone out for a walk in a park.) "Jo, we didn't _earn_ most of this money. Well, Carlisle earned some of it, but it's not like we got all of it honestly," she explained. When she saw the look on my face, she explained quickly. "I'm good in the stock market," she said, tapping her forehead.

"Oh," I said slowly, beginning to comprehend. "So you're like Martha Stewart, only younger."

"Well, older, actually. But you've got the general idea," she laughed. The stream of fabric resumed.

"How old are you exactly?" I asked, cocking my head to one side. This was something I had been wondering for a while. "How old are _all_ of you?"

"In human years?" she asked, and I laughed thinking of how much she sounded like she was talking about a dog.

"Like, how long have you been around," I clarified.

"Okay, well Carlisle's the oldest. He's four hundred something. I'm not sure exactly, but I know he was born in the 1640's. Jasper's one hundred seventy. Esme is one-eighteen. Then Edward's one hundred-twelve. I'm something one-eleven, but I'm not really sure and I didn't join the family until the fifties. Umm…Rose and Emmett are both ninety eight, and Bella's twenty-six. Jake's twenty-five, and Ness is seven, but she's fully grown," she rattled off.

"Well, it's nice to know I'm not the youngest in the family," I said, laughing a little.

We arrived in Oregon the afternoon before we were scheduled to start school. As soon as we walked through the door, we were bombarded by a chorus of greetings and a swarm of hugs. I giggled as I watched Emmett making a show of taking all three of my bags from me on one of his fingers.

"Hey, I think I'm finally ready to challenge you to that arm wrestling match," I told him, poking his burly chest.

"Alright, but what do you say we make this a little interesting," he said, his eyes glinting at the prospect of a bet.

"Okay…if I win, you have to switch into Home-Ec class for the rest of the school year," I said. "_And_ you have to wear a flowered apron."

He glanced at Alice.

"Don't look at me," she said, laughing. "I'm not telling you who's going to win."

"Fine. Well, if I win then…you have to agree to wearing overalls to school for the next week," he challenged.

I pretended to think about it.

_You're going to win. There's no way he could beat you_, Edward said in my head.

_Yeah, I know. That's why I threw in the flowered apron._

"Okay," I said, shrugging. "So where should we do this?"

He dragged me outside and, to make a long story short, he was going to become a very skilled baker over the next few months.


	7. School

**A/N: Alright, so I was wrong about it taking longer for this chapter to come out. It seems I'm getting too addicted to this story to just let it sit. But that's probably a good thing, right? Hope you like it! (And don't forget to comment!) :)**

**DazzlingTopaz1901: You _should _feel special. Lol. Thanks!**

**Jack-chan88: Thanks! I'm glad it made you laugh. I thought about it and was like..."Is she really his niece"...then I figured out that she would be his third cousin. I think. Man, I need a life. Lol**

**bloodsucker13: Haha. Mental images are fun!**

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Twilight or anything related to it.

**Chapter Seven: School**

It was late. It was _really_ late. Normally, I would have been worried about that fact, but now, the change from day to night was nothing. Like Emmett had said on my first night in the house, I got used to it. It was like a cloud passing over the sun on a nice day. It seemed like nothing more than a change in the weather. Still, as I looked at the clock on my bedside table, I couldn't help rolling my eyes in exasperation.

"Alice, it's four in the morning. We leave for school in three and a half hours. Can't I just wear whatever?" I asked desperately.

"Yeah, right. Like I'm going to just let you throw on a pair of jeans," she said, and I could tell she had rolled her eyes, even though I couldn't see her face.

I looked desperately at Renesmee, who was seated next to me on the floor of my enormous closet, reading a book. Without looking up, she put a single finger to my temple.

_Just grin and bear it._ Her message was clear.

"Wait, why aren't you asleep?" I asked, suddenly realizing that she was normally unconscious at this time of night.

She touched my face again. A picture of Rosalie pulling her hair into the curlers she was wearing now came into my mind.

"Well, that sucks," I said quietly.

She just nodded silently.

_Edward, can't _you_ save me or something?_ I asked. He was two floors below us, watching a recap of a basketball game with Emmett.

_No. You sacrificed yourself to Alice when you got so excited about Paris_, he responded.

I knew it was true, but I made sure he heard all my grumbling anyway.

"Oh, try this on," I heard Alice say suddenly.

I looked up. She came from behind one of the racks holding a garment bag. Not only did I have the three suitcases of clothing from our trip, but she had also taken it upon herself to buy me an entire store's worth of outfits online. Once she got a handle on my personal style, I seriously think she bought out Urban Outfitters. My closet looked like an upscale department store.

I was already shamelessly stripped down to my under garments, so I stood and took the bag from her. Unzipping the pouch, I saw a black sweater dress and a necklace of thick, chunky beads in bright purple. I had to hand it to her. She _did_ have a great sense of style.

I slipped the dress over my head and turned in front of the 4-mirrored alcove. Alice appraised me for a brief moment before shaking her head.

"No, that's not the one," she muttered. "Here, give it back."

I had it off, back in its bag, and zipped up within the second. "This really is so unnecessary, Alice," I protested again.

"Alice, are you torturing my new sister in here?" I heard Bella's voice ask from down the hall before she walked in.

My head snapped up. "Finally, someone to save me!" I said, earning myself a glare from Alice.

"Ness, what are you doing up?" Bella asked, echoing my previous question as she plopped down on her daughter's other side. I noticed she had more makeup than usual on, and that her hair was done up. "Rose," she said, rolling her eyes when she saw my questioning look.

Renesmee touched her mother's cheek, probably conveying the same message that she had to me.

Bella rolled her eyes. "Your hair's already curly," she said in an exasperated voice.

"I know, but Rose wanted me to get ready for school 'like a real human,'" she said, putting her book down and using air quotes.

"Real humans don't wake up at four in the morning to get their hair tortured by their aunts," I said, agreeing with Bella.

"Whatever. I was up, anyway. Jake was snoring loud enough to wake the dead," she said.

"It woke me up, that's for sure," Bella said, and we laughed at her bad joke.

Alice came zipping into sight, carrying a new bag with an excited look on her face. "This is the one."

I pulled on the purple skinny jeans, plain white tunic top, and black cardigan before turning to the mirror. "What do you think?" I asked skeptically.

"Oh, it's perfect," Alice gushed.

I laughed. "Thank you? You picked it out," I said.

"Here, put these on," she said, throwing a pair of black flats at me over her shoulder.

"Alice, this outfit is so…simple for you," Bella commented in a joking tone.

"Well, her look works with simple," she said. "Her hair color and everything makes it hard to do much in the red family, so I figured purple would work."

I was quickly ushered off to "hair and makeup" in Rosalie's bathroom, and I couldn't help but feel like I was on a movie set. It couldn't be denied, though, that when I looked at the result a few hours later, I looked like a super model. Even it was a little excessive for high school, it was still kind of exciting.

"Kids, it's time to go," Esme's voice called from somewhere a few floors below us.

We were all assembled in front of the door within the second.

"Okay, so Jasper will be driving the Volvo and Rosalie will drive her car," Carlisle briefed us. "Edward, Bella, Alice, Joline, you are freshmen. Renesmee, Rose, Emmett, Jasper you are sophomores."

_That is so messed up that my own daughter is in a grade above me,_ Edward grumbled to himself.

I laughed at the thought drifting through my mind. _Yeah, you're seventeen and she looks like she's twenty. She has got to be the most…developed…seven year old I have ever seen._

He shot me a glare and I heard something about him "not being ready for this."

The rest of the family didn't pay us much mind. Our strange connection had freaked them out a little at first, but now they were used to it. It was just how we talked to each other. It was as natural for us to do this as it was for Edward to answer their thoughts out loud. I had even discovered that if he was actually paying attention to the things passing through his head instead of tuning the voices out, I could hear what they were thinking as well if I listened hard enough.

"I just want to review before you go. What are the relationships here?" Carlisle asked us as a group.

There were a few grumbles, but most of us just stared at him with a raised eyebrow.

"Okay, well Rose and Jasper are the Hale twins. Jo and Edward are the Masen twins, and Renesmee is your older sister. Then Alice, Bella, and Emmett are the adopted children with the name Cullen. Does everyone have it?" he asked. He was being a little over cautious with the situation, but it was understandable. It was going to look even stranger than I supposed it usually did when they started a new school, now that there were seven of us.

We all nodded, and Esme came to kiss us all on the cheek. We lined up and filed out the door. I suddenly became very aware of my singularity as I watched six of the people around me slip wedding rings from their fingers and stow them in their pockets.

_I had that feeling for almost ninety years_, Edward said, looking at me sympathetically.

_Thanks for the encouragement_, I responded sarcastically, rolling my eyes.

It felt strange to watch Edward pull the keys to his own car out of the back pocket of his jeans and toss them to Jasper as he climbed into the backseat. I hadn't realized until this moment how much of a charade we really had to put up.

The ride to the school took about ten minutes. Our house was on the very outskirts of the actual town, somewhere in the woods. As we got further away from home, the area became more crowded until it eventually turned into a busy little area that was similar to my home town in Florida.

Jasper swung into the parking spot next to Rosalie, and we all climbed out of the two cars. People walking past us stopped and stared. Some were staring at the BMW, but most were just openly gawking at us. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Bella reach instinctively for Edward's hand.

We started toward the school, gliding our way past the people thronging the halls, and found the front office. The whole way there, I was struggling to keep a straight face as I brushed up against the hundreds of new people and saw uncontrollable flashes of little old ladies and hunched old men lying in their beds.

Suddenly, all of it disappeared, and I was able to see the hallway in front of me clearly. My eyes widened in surprise until I felt a warm hand at my cheek and saw a picture of Bella smiling at me.

"Thank you," I mouthed at her, and she shrugged.

Edward walked into the office to get our schedules, and I heard secretary's heart rate pick up from the hall. I wasn't sure if it was from his looks or from the instinctual fear that humans felt when we got too close.

"We're new students here, and we've come to pick up our schedules," he said.

I couldn't help but wonder what was going through her mind when he gave her that look, so I listened in.

_Wow, you can get anything you want from me,_ she was thinking.

Edward hid his grimace well, but his thoughts said something different. _I'm old enough to be your grandfather._

_Actually, you're probably old enough to be her _great _grandfather_, I thought, picturing him as a bent old man with a cane.

He made a face at me over his shoulder through the glass wall before turning back to her and grabbing the seven sheets of paper. When he came back into the hall, we all held out our hands.

I glanced down at mine. Basic Geometry first period. I rolled my eyes. This was going to be a long year. I had been a senior in high school before this, and I had been in all advanced classes at that.

_Geometry _is_ an advanced class,_ Edward said.

_Well, yeah, for a fourteen year old it's advanced. Now I'm starting to understand why you hate this so much._

He looked at me with a raised eyebrow. _Try doing it for a century straight. That and I have two medical degrees. We have to sit through Intro to Bio. _

_If you weren't already dead, I would just suggest suicide,_ I retorted dryly, smirking at him.

_Cute._ He turned to Bella, and they compared schedules.

It turned out I had Geometry with Edward, English with Alice, the much dreaded Intro to Bio with Edward and Bella, Gym with Jasper, Renesmee, and Rosalie, French by myself, History with Alice and Bella, and, the crowning glory (that I had taken for the sole purpose of ensuring Emmett followed through with our bet), Home Ec.

With a resigned sigh, I started toward my math class by Edward's side.

_Stop ignoring them,_ I said to Edward about the teenager's thoughts. _I want to know what they're saying._

_Why, of all things, would you care to know what they're thinking about?_ he asked, glancing down at me.

_I wanna know how hot I am,_ I said in a joking tone.

I laughed when I heard him growl lowly under his breath. He thought of me as a sister, and was more protective over me than he was over Alice or Rosalie because we were actually family.

_Alright. Are you sure you really want to know?_ he questioned skeptically. _It gets pretty raunchy._

I smiled wryly as we turned a corner. _Give me the worst of it_, I told him confidently. _I can handle it._

He shrugged. _If you're sure_.

_Wow, I'd like to get my hands on her,_ said a low male voice. Edward jerked his head discretely at an average looking guy leaning against a locker not far from us.

I shook my head no. _Yeah, right, buddy,_ I mumbled. I had learned that it was indeed possible to mumble thoughts.

_Man, good looks must run in their family. _

_What is it with these new kids? _

_Where did she come from, and are there more of them there?_

Along with the phrases, I was being pictured in all sorts of awkward situations. I grimaced when Edward pointed at the teacher of the room we had just walked into when the worst of the images flew into my mind.

_Eww…_ I thought, staring at the overweight, balding, middle aged man in front of me.

_Pretty much,_ was his response.

"So I'm guessing that you're the Masen twins?" the teacher asked, tearing his eyes away from me to glance down at his roster.

"Yep," I responded, flashing my teeth at him in a grin. I tried to hold in a laugh as I watched him struggle with his obvious attraction and his instinctive terror.

"Well, you two can have a seat anywhere that's open," he muttered, backing up slightly and tripping over his desk chair.

We glided to the back of the room, and the people who were already in the room watched our every move.

"What, are they, like, models or something?" I heard a girl whisper to her friend.

"I don't know, but he sure is fun to look at," the other said.

_Hey, so let's refrain from the whole showing me their thoughts thing for a while,_ I said to Edward as we settled down into desks.

I glanced over at him. He laughed openly at the expression on my face. _I thought you could handle it,_ he said mockingly.

I stuck my tounge out at him childishly.

_Oh, wait. You've got to hear this one, though._

_No! _I began to protest, but the words came anyway.

_It's like they're talking to each other or something. Like twin telepathy, _said a female voice.

_Funny how close they get, isn't it?_ I mused, staring at my white hand lying on the desk.

_Yeah, well some humans are just extra observant_, he commented.

From there, the class passed by relatively slowly. I was starting to fall into my school day stupor that I was typical for me by the time Gym class rolled around, and was excited to have a reason to run around a little. I found the locker room and opened the door. It wasn't hard to find Rose and Renesmee in the haze of perfume. I just followed the jealous stares of the other girls.

"Hey guys," I said cheerfully, stowing my bag in a locker between theirs.

"So, how's your day been?" Nessie asked me as I pulled my clothes off.

I made a face. "Boring. The same old stuff. You know," I replied.

"Yeah, I feel for you there. I'm just glad we get to move this hour," she agreed.

"You know we're not going to be able to do much, though. We can't…do everything we want," Rosalie said, editing her words because of the curious ears around us.

I shrugged and sat on the bench, dressed in the plain uniform we had to wear, and waited for them to finish. "At least I don't have to sit through a reteaching of To Kill A Mockingbird this hour," I said, rolling my eyes.

It wasn't raining that day, so we were forced out onto the track for the hour. We were told to run two miles after we finished stretching, and most of the class grumbled. We all lined up and took off. I tried my hardest to run slowly, but I still was the first done. The teacher stared in wide eyed disbelief at my unflushed cheeks and unlabored breathing. She was also surprised that I hadn't even broken a sweat.

"You should consider the track team, Masen," she commented in a slightly dazed voice.

"I was barely moving," I muttered, too low for her to hear, but smiled at her anyway. In truth, if I had really been running, I could have run the two miles in about ten seconds flat.

By the time we made it to lunch, I was dragging my feet.

"Long day at the office?" Emmett asked sarcastically when I dropped my tray of food on the table and sank onto the bench between him and Alice.

I rolled my eyes. "Brutal," I corrected.

"Mom, have you seen my copy of A Farewell to Arms?" Renesmee asked when she walked over to our table with her own food. "I could have sworn I put it in my bag this morning."

"Nope," Bella replied, tearing herself away from a different book.

_Wuthering Heights. She's read it too many times to be counted,_ Edward clarified exasperatedly.

By the time we made it back home that night, I was envying Jacob along with the rest of them. He had found a job at a local auto repair shop. Since he looked the oldest of all of us, even older than Carlisle or Esme, he wasn't able to go to school.

"Lucky, stinking mutt," I muttered at him later that night when he came home covered in grease stains.

Everyone in the room burst out laughing.

"You wanna do something about it?" he asked in a playful tone.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" I asked, getting excited.

"I hope so. Otherwise I might have to tear you to shreds," he laughed before he began shaking. His entire body trembled, and there was suddenly a giant wolf in his place.

He barked once happily, and I growled, not meaning any harm by it. He took off out the front door, and I was after him in a flash. I chased him through miles of forest, crossing into Washington, and then back down before we burst out of the trees back at home laughing and in a much better mood.


	8. Wedding Day

**A/N: New chapter! Thanks for all the reviews, guys. They make me smile. Keep them coming!**

**bloodsucker13: Didn't mean to disturb you. Haha. :)**

**DazzlingTopaz1901: Thanks so much! It makes me happy when people like it.**

**NymphyLupin92: :) Thanks! Yeah, I was kind of craving something after BD, so I started this.**

**Jack-Chan88: That's a great question, but you'll just have to keep reading to find out the answer! I'm glad you like it, though.**

**Jude Mackenzie: Thank you! I was really nervous at first that I was going to make the Cullens too OOC, but I'm hoping I'm doing okay with it.**

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Twilight or any related characters.

**Chapter Eight: Wedding Day**

The school year passed by rather quickly. We had started at the begging of March, so we didn't have much longer to go. It was the same routine day after day. The more months that flew by, the closer I got to my new family. I felt less and less attached to the people in Miami, Florida who thought that their daughter was dead.

Time seemed to have a new way of passing when looked at through my new eyes. It flew by and crawled all at once. I found more and more ways of occupying my time. I had started out by reading, but once I had read every book in the family library, I decided I had to find a new hobby. I took up Photography for a while before I fell into painting. I found that I loved the way I could release myself onto a blank canvas. I learned that I was a natural. I had never had the time to paint when I was human, but now I had all the time in the world. I had converted my bedroom into a studio by the time I was entering my junior year.

That's where I was sitting at the moment, staring out the window, trying to draw inspiration from something. It was a sunny day, so we had all been forced to stay home. Jake had taken the day off from work so he could be with us, too.

_Jo, come quick_, I heard Edward's frantic voice in my head.

I frowned, confused as to why he sounded so nervous. I could only think he was in some sort of danger. _What? What's happening?_ I asked, assuming the worst.

_Just get down here. We're in the living room._

I was there within the second. I looked around the large space. Everyone was gathered at the bay window, their heads pressed together in an attempt to see what was happening outside. I scanned the backs of their heads, and realized two were missing.

"Where's Jake and Ness?" I asked.

"Shhhh!!" was the frantic reply from everyone at once.

Bella beckoned to me and pointed out the window. I leaned in, searching the lawn for whatever they were looking for. I saw the two of them walking, hand in hand, by the edge of the trees.

_What's going on?_ I asked Edward.

"He's thinking really fast," he said aloud, ignoring my question.

Jasper was drumming his fingers on the window sill quickly and his leg was bobbing up and down. I smiled and put my hand on his thigh, forcing it to stay still.

"He's making me nervous," Jasper said, trying hard to calm himself.

"Just listen," Alice whispered and pointed out the window again.

It was open and I noticed that I could hear the voices drifting inside.

"Jake, why are you being so quiet?" Renesmee asked in a concerned sounding voice.

"Oh…it's umm…nothing. It's nothing," he stammered.

"Well, it doesn't sound like nothing," she replied, and stopped walking. "Are you sure you don't want to talk about it?"

Edward smirked. "Wow, he really is nervous," he said, rolling his eyes a little.

"Will somebody please tell me what's going on?" I asked, slightly exasperated.

"No," Alice whispered. Her eyes became unfocused for just a second, and she held up her hand. "Wait here it comes!"

I could hear the silence in the room. Everyone was holding their breath in anticipation of whatever was about to happen. Jasper's hand was clenched on his knee, trying not to burst from all the excitement coming at him.

Bewildered, I turned back to the window to listen.

"Nessie, you know how I told you we'd always be together?" Jacob was asking her.

She nodded slowly. "Yeah, Jake. Did something happen?" she asked, and I could tell from her voice that she had jumped to a bad conclusion.

"No, no. It's nothing like that," he said quickly, noticing it too. "It's just…I want to stay with you forever. I want to _be_ with you forever. Ness, I love you."

"I love you, too, Jake. You know that," she said, smiling. I could tell I wasn't the only one in the dark here.

"I know, I know. I…I love you," he muttered again, running a hand through his hair.

Next to me, Edward rolled his eyes and laughed under his breath. _He's smooth, _was what I heard.

"Jake, you keep saying that. I know you do. What is it? Just spit it out," she said.

He took a deep breath and started fumbling in his pocket. He produced a tiny black box after a minute, and I gasped. I had just realized what was going on. Slowly and deliberately, he sank onto one knee in the grass.

"Renesmee Carlie Cullen, I love you more than anything in this whole world. Would you make me the happiest man in the world and marry me?" he asked, his voice shaking a bit.

Her hand flew to her mouth, and she started laughing and sobbing at the same time. "That's what you were so nervous about all this time? All day, you've been all weird," she said, shaking her head and laughing some more, wiping the tears away with the hand that Jacob wasn't holding.

"So…will you?" he asked nervously. He didn't seem so sure of himself.

"Of course I will, you silly mutt," she said affectionately, hitting him lightly on the shoulder. "I can't believe you were scared to ask me."

"Well, I had to get through your dad first," he said defensively. "I swear, I thought he was going to rip my throat out at first."

Her eyes flashed up to the house, and she saw us all standing in the window. We all quickly ducked out of sight, but weren't fast enough.

"Dad, how could you give him trouble about this?!" she asked, raising her voice slightly. "I can't believe you would scare him like that!"

"Oooh, you're in trouble," Emmett whispered, shaking with quiet laughter.

"Edward, I can't believe you," Bella added quietly, hitting him on the arm. "We agreed it wouldn't be a problem by the time she had turned three!"

"Jeez, I'm sorry," he hissed. "She's only ten years old. What do you expect?"

Bella rolled her eyes. "She's not a ten year old, Edward," she said in an annoyed voice. "She's an adult, and she can make her own decisions."

"Fine, I'm sorry," he muttered. She shot him a glare. "I'm _sorry_, okay?"

_Give me a break_, he thought.

I laughed. _You're such a _dad_, Edward. It's weird._

"Oh, she already knows we're here. What's the point of hiding any more?" Rosalie suddenly grumbled.

Before anyone else could say another word, Alice was out the door, and we could hear her squealing about wedding plans and asking if she could decorate.

The next few months were a confused swirl of white fabric, cake tastings that no one really wanted to go to, and decoration selection. Bella stayed clear of anything wedding related, but made it clear that it wasn't because she didn't approve of the marriage. She just really hated shopping. I laughed aloud when Esme recalled the story of Bella and Edward's wedding, going into detail about how much she had avoided her own planning.

The whole affair was scheduled to take place three weeks after school got out at the end of Renesmee's senior year. Since Alice was doing the planning, naturally, everyone in town was invited. We weren't even very close with the people who lived around here, but Alice insisted that it needed to be a big, traditional wedding.

Of course, it being a relatively small town, word had traveled quickly. In their eyes, it was the scandal of the century. The doctor's adopted daughter, fresh out of high school, was marrying the family friend, the Native American mechanic who lived with the Cullens for no apparent reason, and who was a decade her senior. We all laughed privately about the things that they had assumed. Jacob was, in reality, about _two_ decades her senior, and was not only the family friend, but a different species altogether. Not to mention that he was her mother's best friend (who had been madly in love with her once upon a time) and that Jacob and Edward had tried to kill each other more than just a few times back in the day. Oh, the scandal was much more scandalous than they could ever imagine.

The day had finally come, and Alice, Bella, Rosalie, and I were all huddled around Nessie, fussing over her hair and makeup, ensuring her dress was buttoned correctly up the back, securing the long, white veil in her cascading ringlet curls.

_Can I come in yet?_ Edward asked, pacing back and forth outside the door.

_No, stupid. She's not ready yet,_ I responded. _Just wait a minute._

_Well, hurry up. The nerves are killing me._ He was getting impatient and anxious. I could feel it coming through in his words.

_Imagine how she feels,_ I scoffed, rolling my eyes. _Imagine how Jake feels._

"What is he doing now?" Bella asked with a smile, noticing that I was seemingly making facial expressions to myself.

I laughed. "He's pacing again. He wants to see her. He's right outside," I told her. Edward had been getting more and more antsy by the day.

"Dad, we'll be done in just a minute," Renesmee told the door. "Just give us a sec."

"Fine," we heard him grumble from outside, and Alice laughed lightly.

"Alright, one last finishing touch," she said, and we all backed away ceremoniously. "Bella, would you like to do the honors?"

Bella produced a small black velvet box, and lifted the lid carefully. "I wore these on the day I married your father. They were my grandmother's," she said, lifting a set of sapphire floral hair clips from the satin.

"Mom, they're beautiful," Nessie gasped. She flung herself onto Bella, tears in her bright eyes.

"Don't cry yet. You have to save all that for the ceremony," Rosalie said, and I could hear the affectionate smile in her voice. "It seems like just yesterday you were this big." She held her arms in the shape of a cradle.

"And now she's all grown up and about to be a Misses," Alice added, and I'm sure that, if it were possible, the four of us would have joined her in the emotional swell of tears at that point.

"You're gonna do great, Ness," I whispered into her hair when she gave me a hug.

"Of course she will. She's got the best father anyone could ask for," Edward said, his patience finally expired. He came in the room, grinning jokingly.

"Dad," she said in a mockingly annoyed voice, but then she was hugging him, too, getting his shoulder wet with her tears. "Daddy, are you sure I'm going to be alright?" she asked in a barely audible whisper.

He pulled her closer and kissed the top of her head. "Of course, sweetie. There's no one out there better for you than Jake. Never doubt that. He loves you as much as I love your mother," he whispered, and I swear I heard his voice crack a little. "I never thought I would say this, but I consider Jacob my son as much as you are my daughter."

Bella beamed at them both as she finally released him, wiping the tears from under her eyes. When Nessie was examining herself in the mirror with Alice, making a few quick, last minute touch ups, Bella crossed the room to Edward. I didn't try to hear their conversation, but I couldn't help hearing what Edward was going to say before he had even spoken it.

"I'm so glad that you and Jake worked out your differences so easily," she said, and I could tell she was smiling still.

"What I said is true. But you don't think I'm being too…you know…over protective or anything, do you?" he asked self consciously.

"Of course not," she told him. "You're just being a dad. You did good."

Carlisle suddenly stuck his head in the room. "We're ready to start," he said, smiling warmly at our emotional gathering.

"Alright, we're ready, too," Alice said, finally turning away from the mirror.

Carlisle left the room to go back downstairs and out to the garden, and we followed him, lining up in front of the door that led through the arch way into the yard.

I heard the music start, and we started outside. I heard fidgeting behind me as I made my way down the aisle.

_Stop it, she's going to be fine,_ I told Edward comfortingly.

_I know…it's just…I know._

By the time all four of us had reached the end of the aisle and were standing at the altar, the music was beginning to change. I glanced over at Jake. He was beaming, but also looked very worked up as he bounced on the balls of his feet, biting his lips. My eyes found Jasper, and I tried to conceal a laugh when I noticed he was glaring at the back of Jake's head and taking deep breaths, trying to calm the situation.

As soon as Edward and Renesmee rounded the corner, the entire crowd shifted, turning to stare.

"Why is she having her little brother give her away?" a few people asked their neighbors in whispers.

She really did look remarkably like Edward, I thought as I watched the two of them make their way down the aisle, her eyes watering. I normally thought she favored Bella in the looks department, but with the lighting and with her clinging to him for support, I realized the resemblance that everyone else seemed to notice.

They reached the end of the aisle and, as gently as he could, Edward placed his daughter's hand in his old rival's without a second thought. I saw Jake's eyes widen with pride and the smile on his face grew, if it were possible, even bigger than it had been just a few moments ago. Edward chuckled quietly as he took his seat in the front row.

_He can't believe his luck,_ he muttered in his head.

My eyes darted over to where he was sitting._ Neither can I,_ I said, and he rolled his eyes a little.

"Do you, Jacob William Black, take Renesmee Carlie Masen to be your lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold, as long as you both shall live?" the minister asked, using the substitution that Bella and Edward had used as something of a private joke.

"I do," he breathed, beaming down at her.

"And do you, Renesmee Carlie Masen, take Jacob William Black to be your lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold, as long as you both shall live?" he asked, turning to her.

"Of course I do," she said, and a few people in the audience laughed softly.

"I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may now kiss the bride," the minister said, smiling down at them.

Nessie pounced on Jacob, clinging tightly to him. All the people who were able to had tears streaming down their faces, even Jake's best man, Seth Clearwater. Even all of the Quileute men who had flown out from Forks, Washington, and, of course, all their wives. All the people who had sworn their eternal, unwavering hate for vampires were sitting in the audience, bawling their eyes out. Even the tough old man sitting next to Edward in the front row: Bella's father, Charlie. Jake's father, who had declared that nothing in this world was lower or worse than a bloodsucker, was sitting with Sam Uley, Jacob's old pack leader, and both of them were crying like women in a tear jerker.

It was the idea of the union, as much as it was the occasion itself. The fact that two people who had sworn so much hate toward each other as Edward and Jacob had could both be in the same place on a day like this. It was the idea that love really does conquer all. It was the solid proof that werewolves and vampires could, indeed, love each other. It was confirmation that Jacob was a real member of the Cullen family, no matter how ridiculous or ludicrous the idea may have sounded just a decade ago. It didn't matter, in that moment, that a werewolf had just married the half-vampire daughter of the woman he had once thought he loved. It didn't matter that the whole idea of the marriage was backwards in every way, and it didn't matter that none of us had any idea what their kids could possibly turn out like. It didn't even matter that all the humans in the crowd were as overcome with emotion as all of us who knew the true story, the whole story.

All that mattered in that moment, as the two newlyweds pulled apart on the podium and turned, beaming, to their friends and family, was Jacob and Renesmee Black. Joined forever in perfect harmony.

**A/N: I know this kind of sounds like an ending, but I swear it's not. I couldn't give this story up _that_ soon! Much more to come.**


	9. Invitation

**A/N: Okay, so school starts tomorrow for me. (Yeah, we start early here) So I don't really know how much that's going to effect me updating so often. The chapters might come out a little slower, but I'll try my hardest to keep them coming pretty quickly. Don't forget to review. It makes me want to write!**

**TwilightChic17: Thanks! Haha. Holy crow. It always makes me smile when someone says that. I had never heard it before Twilight.**

**Jude Mackenzie: This chapter has Jo all over it! Haha. I'm trying to keep them IC, so it's good to hear that it's working. Thanks.**

**Laurawr: Thanks! PS- Your username makes me smile real big.**

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Twilight or any related characters.

**Chapter Nine: Invitation**

Years later, long after my red tinged eyes had faded to a smoldering topaz, after I had ceased to be quicker than Edward or stronger than Emmett, long after we had moved from that little town in Oregon, long after Edward had gotten over the fact that his daughter was now a married woman, we were living in a new home just outside the little town of Berlin, New Hampshire, in the northern part of the state.

I had just finished my second first stint in college and gotten my medical degree from Harvard. There were, of course, a couple of questioning glances the further I rose in the years of schooling. By the time I graduated, my classmates were twenty eight. I was only seventeen. It did raise a few eyebrows, but with properly forged papers, I was able to pass myself off as just having really good skin.

I was glad to be back with my family, even though it meant high school. I had never planned much on actually practicing medicine. I looked much too young for that, but I had wanted to get a degree. Besides, when I relayed the modern information to Carlisle, he was able to use it to stay up to date.

So here we were. It did seem a bit ridiculous to go from ten years of Ivy League schooling back to being a sophomore in high school. But, as I said, I was happy to be with my brothers and sisters again. We were just starting Berlin High.

I was sitting in our kitchen, watching Madison and Ryan, Jacob and Nessie's twins, making sure they didn't plaster the walls with their cereal the morning of our first day.

"Mad, don't do that," I scolded. "You know he's just going to hit you back." She had a knife in her hand and was raising it to get at Ryan.

I know I probably sound like a _really_ bad babysitter when I say that, but we had figured out soon after the twins' birth that their skin was virtually impenetrable. They were half human, a quarter werewolf, and a quarter vampire. Talk about being unique. Their skin was almost as hard as ours was, and, if they did manage to get hurt, it healed as quickly as Jake's did.

Madison turned her wide, green eyes on me. "But he brokeded my leg yesterday," she said with innocence.

"That doesn't mean you get to stab your own brother," I said with exasperation.

Though Jake and Renesmee were coming up on their twentieth anniversary, the kids were only a few months old. The whole vampire-werewolf-weird-growth-spurt thing apparently applied to them, as well, because they looked like they were about three years old. Because of Jacob having imprinted on Renesmee, he was physically incapable of giving her anything she didn't want. Therefore, his body hadn't been able to get her pregnant until she was absolutely certain that she wanted kids.

"Jo-Jo, why do we eats food? You don't," Ryan observed out of nowhere. He was poking at his Cheerios with his spoon moodily.

"Because I'm a vampire," I explained to him, "like your Grandma and Grandpa. We can't eat food. We'd get sick."

"Well, I don't like food," he told me, looking up from his bowl.

Now I had two pairs of emerald eyes staring me down. "Me nieber," Maddy told me, shaking her head. "Can I be a fampire too?"

"No," I said honestly. "But I promise that you're both _part_ vampire. And you if you ask Mommy really nice, maybe she'll take you hunting with her one of these days."

"Yay!" they chorused, and got up to do a sort of victory dance.

I watched them fondly, and though about how messed up the situation must be from an outside perspective. It got even weirder when Edward came rushing into the room and scooped them both into his arms. Their seventeen year old grandfather.

"Grandpa!" they squealed in delight.

"Swing us on your arms!" Maddy commanded once she had caught her breath.

He smiled down at them affectionately. "Hold on tight," he said.

They climbed onto his shoulders and wrapped themselves around each of his biceps securely. The smiles of anticipation plastered across their faces were priceless.

"You ready?" he asked.

"Go!" Ryan told him, all but wetting his pants from excitement.

Edward started spinning, and he was a blur. Even my eyes couldn't follow him. He really was the fastest in the family.

_Thank you,_ he said, and I mentally stuck my tongue out at him.

I could hear delighted giggles coming from the reddish blur in the middle of the kitchen, and he didn't stop until Bella came down the stairs, laughing at what she saw. He slowed to a halt, and the kids dropped from his arms, collapsing in a panting, shrieking, giggling heap on the floor next to him. All three of them looked like they had just stepped off a roller coaster.

He was in front of Bella in an instant. He swept her into his arms, and I looked away politely. When they finally parted, I turned back.

"What's got you in such a great mood?" I asked him curiously.

"Would it be weird if I said it was because we're starting school again today?" he asked, grinning.

"Seriously? You hate going to high school. We all do," Bella said, looking at him curiously.

"Well, none of us have been in about a decade, and I was starting to miss the routine. Actually, it's just really good to all be together again for a while."

"I know what you mean," I said. "You stole that out of my head. I was just thinking about how we've only been together on holidays for a long time."

"Hey, where are you guys?" we heard Emmett ask from somewhere in the house.

"We're in here," Bella said in a slightly raised voice.

He stuck his head in the kitchen. "Hey, we've got to go," he told us.

The twins finally scrambled up off the ground and ran to hug him around the legs. They latched themselves on and he walked away with them sitting on his feet as if they weighed nothing. The entire gang of people was gathered at the front door. There were thirteen of us living under one roof now. We really were a sight to see. If the Volturi had thought there were too many Cullens before I came into the family, they definitely weren't too happy now.

'_Please don't think about that,_' Edward said, and I noticed him shudder lightly.

'_Sorry. It just sort of popped in,'_ I told him.

Renesmee was the lucky one of the group. She got to stay home with the twins. Bella had apparently used the excuse of a kid when Ness was little, too.

"I wish I was a mom," Emmett grumbled as we made our way out into the mist toward the parked cars.

The week or so of school flew by normally without any interruption. One day, Edward, Alice, and I were standing in the hall before school started, chatting happily and laughing together, when Edward suddenly looked over my shoulder. His eyes narrowed slightly, and he tapped my arm.

"Incoming," he muttered.

I turned, and saw a boy staring at me as he slowly made his way across the room. He had dark, slightly messy hair that fell easily into his eyes, and steely blue eyes. He was pale, but not obnoxiously so, and not nearly as white as I was. He smiled nervously when he saw me looking at him, and a dimple appeared on his left cheek.

"Hi," he said lamely when he reached me, waving a little and glancing nervously at Edward, who was flanking me with his arms crossed. I wasn't entirely sure if he was there for my protection or for the boy's.

"Edward, it's okay," I told him aloud for the boy's benefit. "I've got this." I put my hand on his arm as he turned to go stand with Alice.

_Stay close just in case_, I warned him.

He glanced at me over his shoulder and nodded once in acknowledgment.

I turned back to the boy in front of me as if what had just happened wasn't strange at all. "So what's up?" I asked him, smiling gently.

"Well, I uh…this is going to sound really awkward, I know, but…" He was fumbling for words, getting more and more nervous by the second. "I just…um…I was wondering if…wow this sounds lame, but if you would just hear me out on it, that'd be great."

I nodded slowly. I was so tempted to just tell him to spit it out. It wasn't like I wasn't going to be awkwardly asked out by half of the male student body. As the odd one out in our group, I attracted the most attention.

He took a deep breath and his words began to spill out of his mouth very quickly, as if he was trying to say it before he could stop himself. "It's just that you moved here with your family, and, I don't know, you guys came out of nowhere and all of a sudden you're here and it's like you've just got high school down, like you're on cruise control. I mean, you're top in all the classes, you don't care what anyone says about you, and it's like you just know exactly what you're doing no matter what situation you're thrown into. And I've been living in this little, insignificant town all my life and I've known all of these people since I was three and I just can't seem to get any of it. I don't know how to fit in or even how to _not_ fit in without looking like a total loser. I know how lame and pointless this probably sounds, but I was wondering if maybe you could kind of show me how to not be so lame?" he cringed slightly once he had actually spoken the words.

Whatever I had been expecting him to say, it had not been this. A small frown creased my forehead, and I opened my mouth to speak, but then closed it again, not really knowing what to say. In all the time I had been a vampire, no one had really had the courage to come up and talk to me without just crudely asking me out. Instinct told them to run. But this boy seemed completely at ease around me, albeit the nerves brought on by his question.

"Well…umm…couldn't you ask one of my brothers or sisters? I'm sure they'd be able to help you out," I stammered. It wasn't so much a refusal as it was me saying 'You probably would have been better off if you had gone to Jasper gushing blood, and asked for him to sew you up.' I hadn't spent much time in close contact with humans, and I was still very aware of the fact that I was the youngest vampire in our family.

He bit his lip and looked at his hands. "Well, they all seem sort of taken," he said. "Not that I'm asking you out or anything, but I don't want to get in anyone's way. Besides, I don't think your brother Edward likes me very much." He glanced over my shoulder again.

I turned slowly, and saw Edward staring intently back at me, a serious expression on his face. '_Back off, will you? He's just asking me for help.'_

'_I know he is,'_ was Edward's reluctant reply, and he turned to talk to Alice.

"I guess I could. What do you want me to do?" I asked, not really sure what he meant by his question.

"I don't even know," he said, but he sounded slightly less nervous now that Edward wasn't looking at him like he was contemplating coming back over. "I was just thinking we could like hang out some time. You know, as friends, though. I just don't really fit in with anyone here really, and you just seemed like a really open person."

I nodded slowly, thinking his offer over. "Yeah. Yeah, I guess that'd be okay," I said. I could hardly believe I was accepting. So many humans had asked me out without really caring about who _I_ was that it was nice to hear that from him. And besides, I hadn't really had a friend, outside my family, since before I was changed all those years ago.

His smile grew slightly more confident, and he looked me in the eye fully for the first time. I smiled back. "How about we go see a movie this weekend?" he suggested. "Do you like scary movies?"

"Yeah, I do," I said. "I don't get scared too easily. They're fun."

"Great. Because there's this new one out that looks super gory," he said.

"Sounds good. Umm…I didn't catch your name. I'm sorry," I said. I hated that I hadn't paid enough attention earlier this week to know. But since when had I cared about the humans I went to school with? Since when did they matter to me?

"Oh, I'm William. William Rice," he said, blushing lightly.

I smiled. "I'm Joline Masen," I informed, in case he didn't already know.

"Okay. Well, I guess I could pick you up around seven on Saturday? But I don't really know where you live…" he trailed off.

"How about I'll pick you up," I offered. His scent would be easy to follow to his house in a town this small.

"Alright. Well, I guess I'll see you then," he said, and turned to leave down the hall.

Edward and Alice were back by my side in seconds, Edward staring at me in wide eyed disbelief, and Alice with a small grin on her face, suggesting she knew something I didn't. I knew better than to ask. That face meant she wasn't planning to tell me what she had seen.

"What?" I asked Edward, noting the look on his face.

"Did you really just do that?" he asked me in a low voice. "You never really pay attention to any of the humans."

"Well, he just wants to hang out. You heard him. He wasn't asking me to marry him or anything," I defended. I had gotten a few very irrational proposals over the years. _And I've haven't had a friend that's not family in over two decades,_ I added silently.

His expression softened. "He didn't think of it as anything more than what he said. He just wants to be your friend," he told me.

Alice's grin widened.

"You're not telling me are you?" I asked her.

"Nope," she said, smiling and shaking her head.

"She's translating Pride and Prejudice into Hebrew in her head," Edward added, frowning. "This better not be anything important."

She just rolled her eyes. "Come on, we're going to be late to Physics."

I narrowed my eyes suspiciously, but put it aside. "What's the movie about, anyway?" I asked Edward. He had obviously been listening very closely to what William had been thinking.

He pressed his mouth together in a line, clearly trying not to laugh. "Vampires," he told me, smiling widely.

* * *

**A/N: Let me know what you think! Review please!**


	10. Movie

**A/N: Okay, so I'm kind of excited about William Rice now. There's a link to a picture of him on my profile, so you should check him out. He makes me smile real wide inside. **

**I warned you that this whole school thing was going to have an effect on my updates. Bummer. Oh well. I'm still writing, obviously. So you should keep reviewing!**

**NymphyLupin92: I feel so special! And (psst...) You got your wish.**

**JudeMackenzie: Thanks! I put all three...or four...in this chapter! William's not so much weird as he is just SUPER awkward.**

**bloodsucker13: Yep! I figured it would be funny.**

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Twilight.

**Chapter Ten: Movie**

I was nervous. I had never been so nervous as a vampire. Not that I could remember, and I was blessed with perfect recall. I was flitting around my closet at top speed, leaving a trail of clothing behind me. The room looked like a natural disaster had hit.

Alice was chasing after me, trying to get me to stand still enough for her to pick my clothes out _for_ me, but I was way too wound up for that. She eventually gave an exasperated sigh and stopped somewhere near a rack of denim. I kept going.

_Edward, can you _please_ get up here? You're the only one who's going to be able to catch her, _she yelled mentally.

I hadn't even tried to hear her. After spending so long together, Edward and I were even more connected mentally. I heard everything that passed through his head without an ounce of mental strain. So I wasn't surprised when I felt myself collide with a solid wall of concrete with a clap like thunder.

_Calm down,_ he muttered in a frustrated way, rolling his eyes.

I sighed and slumped into his arms. _What's gotten into me? Why am I freaking out like this? _I wondered, dropping my head into my hands.

_This is exactly how I was when I first met Bella,_ he said with a chuckle. _Only there was no one in the house who could catch up with me._

_Yeah, but this isn't even like that,_ I protested, sitting on the floor and waiting for Alice to return with an outfit. _He's just a friend. Not a date. Just a friend. _I repeated the words in my head like a mantra.

_Keep telling yourself that, and maybe you'll believe it in a few years, _he told me with a smirk.

I scowled and took a swipe at him, but he darted out of the room before I could make contact. _Shut up,_ I grumbled.

I really wasn't thinking of this as anything but what it was. Even if I had wanted it to be more, it never would have been possible. I simply didn't have the control that Edward had possessed when he was with Bella. I was so much younger than him. So much less experienced. But I _didn't_ want it to be anything more. I really didn't. I was just excited to have someone to talk to who couldn't red my mind, see my future, or tell exactly what I was feeling. I loved my family, don't get me wrong, but it got kind of old being around the same twelve people for such a long time.

Alice came back with a look on her face that said she wanted to be angry with me, but was clearly too excited to actually carry out the emotion.

"You're really not going to tell me what you saw, are you?" I asked anxiously. I had been carefully scanning Edward's mind for anything she had let slip, to no avail, of course, for the past two days since that smug expression had first crossed her tiny face.

"Nope," she chirped, smiling brightly at me. "Now get up and try this on."

With a heavy, resigned sigh, I stood and held my arms out so she could slip the white eyelet sun dress over my head. I put on the black cardigan she threw my way, and shoved the red flats onto my feet moodily.

"Why can't you just _tell_ me," I asked desperately. "If it has to do with me, then I have the right to know."

She just smiled wider. "I'm not telling you, so I suggest you stop agonizing over it. And stop picking Edward's brain. I'm not telling him anything either."

"How did you…"

"I can tell when you're trying. You stare at the back of his head frowning every day in math class. It's kind of obvious," she told me with a subtle roll of her eyes.

I couldn't resist pouting a little childishly as we walked downstairs. The living room was only partially filled with people. Emmett and Jasper were sitting on the floor playing Halo, one of the twins on each of their shoulders. The kids liked to jump on for the ride, because whenever they played, they got very into the game. They would duck and dive out of the way of the imaginary gun shots just for the fun of it.

"Hit him with your missile," Maggie squealed, pulling Jasper's hair like reins. "Blast him!" Jasper complied with a wide grin on his face, and she cheered.

"Look out!" Ryan yelled dramatically into Emmett's ear. "It's coming right at you!" Emmett rolled on the ground, pretending to dive out of the way for Ryan's fun, and I heard a crunch come from the smaller boy's shoulder. He absentmindedly popped the limb back in place without a second thought. "Get out your sniper gun," he continued to direct.

I laughed, cheered up and calmed down by their crazy antics. All four heads turned to look at me, all grinning wildly from the excitement of their game. The twins' faces were flushed with excitement.

"Jo-Jo!" they screamed in delighted unison, hopping down from Emmett and Jasper and rushing me. Their arms wrapped around my legs, and I felt the warmth from their tiny bodies seeping up from my ankles.

"You leaving, Jo?" Emmett asked, flopping back on the couch casually.

"Yep," I replied.

"Have fun," I heard Esme call from somewhere in the house.

I smiled and shook the kids off my feet one at a time, sending them flying through the air and onto the couch next to Emmett.

"Bye," I said in a slightly raised voice, and I knew everyone had heard me.

When I was safely in my small, flashy car, I realized that I wasn't unnerved so much by the occasion as I was for William's safety. How could I know for sure that I wouldn't hurt him on the short car ride 

between his house and the only movie theatre in town? What if he touched me and realized how cold my skin really was, or was scared by the solidity that it possessed. How did I know that I wouldn't slip up? What if he was my one mistake in my diet? What if he became that accident that every other member of my family had already had? What if I wasn't strong enough?

The questions buzzed around my brain at such a rapid and confusing pace that I hadn't even realized I was at his house until I was turning the keys in the ignition. I took a deep breath, a habit that had stuck around from my human days, and stepped out of the car. Walking at an extremely slow pace, slower even than I used at school, I made my way up to the front door. The old man across the street was watering his flowers and watching me suspiciously.

I pressed the doorbell gently, not wanting to punch a hole in the wall accidentally, and waited. I heard loud, clomping footsteps approaching the door, and smiled to myself. I was never alone with humans, so I never really noticed just how ungraceful they were. The footsteps at school were loud, but I was used to expecting the noise. These were thunderously loud compared to anything I was used to in a home setting. The door opened with a swish of air, and a middle aged woman stood framed in the doorway.

"Hello, you must be Joline Masen," she said, smiling at me warmly. She gave a good try to cover up her instinctual terror as I followed her into the house, but I saw it on her face anyway. I saw it in the way that she pulled her hand back after offering it for me to shake before I could even reach out to take it. I noticed that she didn't turn her back on me, letting me lead the way instead. I didn't miss the clench of her jaw or her speeding heart rate.

I cringed gently, trying to keep it off my face. This was exactly what I had been afraid of, but maybe it's what was best. Maybe if William had enough fear of me naturally, he wouldn't be able to climb into the small car. The small flicker of hope was drowned by the disappointment at the thought.

"No thank you, Ms. Rice," I said kindly when she offered me a soda. I smiled and shook my head lightly. "I'm not thirsty." She didn't know to look for the double meaning in my words.

"Alright, well William should be down in just a second," she said, settling herself on the sofa across from my chair. "So, how did you meet my son?"

"Well, we met at school. I'm new in town, and he offered to take me out and show me around a bit," I told her in a casual tone, hoping she wouldn't ask the specifics of my move. I hated lying.

"Oh, yes. I heard that your family had just moved in town. You come from a very large family, is that correct?" she asked, sipping the small mug of coffee in her hands.

I shuddered lightly, invisible to her eyes, at the cup of what I guessed would taste like muddy water. "Yeah. Carlisle and Esme adopted my twin brother, my older sister, and myself when we were very young," I told her. It was partially true. We had been young compared to what we were now. "And they've also adopted my other brothers and sisters, and Carlisle's old college friend, Jacob, lives with us as well."

She raised her eyebrows in slight surprise. "Well, it's only William and myself here," she said slowly. "But I come from a large family. I had four brothers and sisters. How many live at your house?"

I smiled at her idea of a large family. "Thirteen, including myself," I told her, knowing she would be even more surprised by the actual number.

"Wow, thirteen," she mouthed, not meaning for me to notice. "That certainly is a large family. But if your, ah, father can take care of that many, then more power to him."

I laughed a little. "Yeah, we all get along really well, so it's not a problem." At least that much was true. It had been years since there had been a real fight.

There were light footsteps on the stairs then, and I turned a little too quickly, surprised by the quiet noise. If I hadn't seen him standing in the doorway, looking nervous, I would have thought there was a vampire in the house. William smiled at me when our eyes connected.

"Hi," he said, waving a little.

"Hey," I replied casually, standing up from the chair.

His mother bustled across the room and leaned in to whisper to him. "She's so gorgeous, honey," she said with a tone of wide eyed surprise that she had tried so hard to conceal when speaking with me directly. "A little intimidating, but gorgeous."

I politely pretended to not notice her words, but I couldn't resist biting my lip at her "intimidating" comment.

He smiled at her, but it came out more like a grimace. "I'll see you later, mom," he said, rolling his eyes at me when she couldn't see him anymore.

"So, should we get going, then?" I asked, jingling my keys at him.

"Sure," he replied, shrugging his shoulders. "Let's get out of here before she gets back."

I laughed as I walked through the door that he held open for me. We walked side by side to the car, and I made a conscious effort not to accidentally brush against him. It might break his shoulder. I concentrated on the wonder of his soft footsteps. How did a human manage to walk so gracefully? So silently?

"Are you a dancer?" he asked me randomly as we made our way down the pathway.

I cocked my head at his question. "No. Why?"

"You just seem so…I don't know…coordinated when you walk," he said, gesturing vaguely and laughing at himself.

"Oh," I said, shrugging. "I don't know. It's just how I walk."

"Oh," he said, echoing me. He opened his mouth to say something else, but stopped short at the sight of my car in front of his house.

I chuckled lightly at his silly expression. His face had frozen mid word, so it looked like his mouth had dropped open. I slid into the driver's side seat and rolled down the passenger window. I ducked my head so I could see him from the low sitting position. "You getting in?" I asked, my eyes twinkling.

"You drive _this_?!" he half exclaimed. "God, you are so lucky. I have to drive my mom's old Toyota. It's from like twenty fourteen. It's older than I am."

I smiled. _What does that make me?_ I wondered idly. "Well, you should enjoy the plush interior from the inside instead of just standing there staring at it. Your face might stick that way."

He shut his mouth quickly, blushing lightly. I tried hard to ignore the small amount of venom that welled up in my mouth at the sight. He opened the door and climbed in, closing it carefully behind him. He ran his hand along the leather of the dashboard, and I took off at top speed. He didn't even notice that the car was moving until he looked out the window. The ride was too smooth.

"Whoa!" he said, jumping a little. "How fast are we going?"

I looked at the speedometer, something I rarely did. "Umm…one-twenty. Why?"

He blanched. "The limit is thirty through here," he said quietly. "Going this fast in some states is considered attempted murder."

My mouth hardened. Being in the car with him at all could be considered attempted murder. What was I thinking doing this? I was suddenly hyperaware of the scent of his blood filling the small space. I felt my eyes darken a shade, and tried to avoid meeting his eyes until we were in fresh air again. The theatre was only about a minute away if I drove quickly enough. I didn't reduce my speed like he wanted me to.

"Are you okay?" he asked me, his voice suddenly filled with concern.

I nodded stiffly and glanced at him. His eyes didn't flicker with fear like they were supposed to. His heart rate hadn't jumped. He wasn't afraid of me, at least not yet. This fact did little to comfort me. If he wasn't afraid of me, how would he know to run away?

"I'll be okay. I just think I need a little fresh air," I lied smoothly, my voice tight.

The difference in my tone didn't escape his notice. He reached out to touch me lightly on the shoulder, and I cringed away from the contact instinctively. I was so used to being reluctant to seeing humans' deaths that I hated being touched by new people. But nothing came. It seemed he had already touched me in the hall earlier that week. I sighed with momentary relief and allowed the slight contact. He was touching my sweater, after all, and probably wouldn't notice the massive temperature difference.

His fingers brushed the fabric lightly, reaching the skin of my shoulder, and I heard his sharp intake of breath at the same time that I felt my own. As soon as his skin had accidentally touched mine, there had been a shock similar to an electric current.

"Sorry," we both mumbled at the same time, though neither of us were at fault. We both laughed, trying to break some of the tension that had arisen when we had both jerked back from the shock.

Thankfully, I could see the theatre coming up on our right, so I slowed my car a little and swung into the parking lot, gliding smoothly into a parking spot. I got out of the car, probably quicker than I normally would have, and took a deep breath. This one was not out of habit. It was absolutely necessary. I had to clear my mind of his scent.

"I don't know if I'll be able to walk after a ride like that," he joked as he climbed out of the car gracefully. "I've never gone so fast."

I laughed again, and a few more threads of tension disappeared. "Well, get used to it," I said without thinking. "I don't like to drive slow."

He smiled as we started toward the theatre. "Alright, so this movie we're going to see is supposed to be really gory, like I told you the other day. Fake blood and guts everywhere," he said in an excited voice. "It's one of those ridiculous vampire movies."

Ridiculous because vampires weren't supposed to exist, or ridiculous because it would be _too_ realistic for comfort? I figured I would find out his opinions on my kind in the next two hours. When we reached the ticket counter, the girl fake-smiled at us.

"Hi, welcome to AMC theatres," she said in a falsely kind voice. "How may I help you?"

As William bought our tickets, I watched her eyes scan me. She seemed pleased by the fact that we weren't touching, but she seemed disappointed as she focused on my flawless skin, my thick lashes, my gently flowing curls. We were beautiful to them, but it was because of the monstrosity that hid inside us. I had to admit, I was slightly taken aback by her obvious jealousy.

I peeked at William surreptitiously, and realized he wasn't too bad to look at. I hadn't really looked at him completely yet because I had just thought of him as another human, but now I took a second to really see him. His cheekbones were angled in a feminine way that made him reminiscent of the pouty faces of the male models that stared up from the pages of a magazine. His blue eyes sparkled in the glare of the overhead lights, and his dark hair was slightly messy in an artful way. His lips were full for a guy, and his lanky, tall figure made him approachable. I really didn't understand why he was such an outsider at school. Humans tended to go for the better looking people to befriend. It was a trend I had noticed through the years.

"Are you even listening to me?" he asked, and I blinked at the hand that waved in front of my face.

"Sorry, what? I spaced out for a second," I admitted, shaking my head slightly. I knew that if it were possible, I would be blushing right now.

"I asked if you wanted any popcorn," he repeated, smiling.

I caught myself staring as his left cheek rose into the dimple, but I managed to knock myself out of the daze. "Uh…no," I replied a little too hastily. "No, I'm fine."

"Alright. Let's go grab seats, then," he suggested.

"Sounds good." We walked side by side into the crowded theatre, and I had the sudden urge to snag the hand that was swinging between us. _No,_ I told myself firmly. _You can't do that._ Why was I feeling this? What _was_ this? What was this boy doing to make me act so…human again? I hadn't struggled for words for years, and now I was losing myself staring at him. What was I getting myself into?

**A/N: Don't forget to review and check out the picture of William on my profile!**

**:) Thanks for reading!**


	11. Horror

**A/N: I know this chapter is short. It's the shortest I've written yet. But please don't get mad at me. Be comforted in knowing that I'm already halfway through writing twelve. I promise that one will be long. I'll make you a deal. If I get atleast five reviews on this, I'll put it out tomorrow. :) If not, it'll be out soon.**

**Okay, so I'm smiling and bummed at the same time. I'm smiling because I really like this chapter, even if it is short. But I'm bummed because this whole school thing is really cutting into my writing time. It took me three days to get this one out, which isn't very long, I guess, but it feels like a long time. Especially after this summer when one was coming out each day. Oh well. Review please!**

**NymphyLupin92: Yeah, me too! Haha. There's a whole lot more of him coming up in the next chapters.**

**JudeMackenzie: I can't tell what Alice is hiding. Even she won't tell. :)**

**bloodsucker13: That's what I said! :) Glad you liked it.**

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Twilight.

**Chapter Eleven: Horror**

The urge that had possessed me when we were walking into the theatre, the one that had told me to do something I knew was wrong on so many levels, faded quickly once the movie started, though it didn't disappear completely. The feeling diminished because we were having way too much fun laughing at what was going on on-screen.

I had been paranoid to wonder if the movie would be too accurate for comfort. It turned out that it was just a ridiculous blood bath.

"They're throwing every cliché in the book at us," William whispered through our fits of silent giggles.

"I know. It's crazy," I breathed back, biting my lip to keep from bursting out in loud laughter as we watched the Transylvanian man with the long, black cloak slaughter an entire village of people in thirty seconds.

"Why would vampires even be afraid of garlic?" he asked a few minutes later. "I mean, he's like totally indestructible, and then the lady holds up some Italian food, and he's, like, defeated. It doesn't make any sense."

I laughed softly. "They don't even eat food. It's just a total contradiction," I agreed. I was smiling widely the whole time. He didn't seem to be bothered by the idea of vampires, but that was, of course, when he thought they were just a figment of Bram Stoker's imagination.

When the movie was over, we walked out of the theatre laughing.

"That was a really bad movie," I told him honestly. "I'm not even going to lie to make you feel better."

He smiled. "I told you it was just going to be buckets of blood, didn't I?" he said. "I never promised it would be good."

Again, I caught myself staring at him as we walked through the dark parking lot. The lights overhead hit his face and made his eyes sparkle when he smiled. I couldn't help letting a soft smile spread across my own face as I watched the expressions and gestures he was making as he talked dramatically with his hands about what we had just seen.

When we reached my car, he sighed a little. "I still can't get over the idea that you drive one of these," he said in an envious tone as he stared down at the flashy, low-riding, bright yellow car. "Why don't you drive it to school?"

I laughed as I swung smoothly out of the parking spot. "Can you picture this car in the same lot as all the old Hondas and Toyotas people drive? It would be way too obvious."

"What would be obvious?" he asked curiously.

I bit the inside of my lip. "Nothing. I just don't like to show off. And Edward wouldn't let me use his car tonight," I said quickly. It wasn't a total lie. I didn't like the car enthusiasts who always flocked to my vehicle when I drove it into town.

We sped down the road at top speed, and William didn't seem to mind the trees flashing by us as much as he had at first. We chatted happily the whole way back to his house without a single lapse in conversation. It wasn't until I pulled up to the curb in front of his house that I realized I didn't want to leave him. I was surprised by this new development, but felt that, in the back of my mind, I had been expecting it all along.

His hand hesitated on the handle after he had unbuckled his seat belt. "I guess I'll see you Monday?" he questioned, seeming unsure of himself suddenly.

I sighed too quietly for him to hear. It seemed like such a long time from now. "I'll see you tomorrow," I said confidently, but my insides were squirming with the possibility of rejection.

A small line appeared between his eyebrows. "Tomorrow? Why tomorrow?" he asked.

"You'll see," I said mysteriously. I really had no idea of what we would do; I just wanted to see him again before Monday.

A smile spread across his face. "Alright. Yeah, I'll see you then," he said, and I breathed an inaudible sigh of relief.

I didn't know why he was getting me so worked up. He was just a human. Just another insignificant human. But I knew it wasn't true. I watched him walk up the steps to the front door and let himself in, and I knew I was getting myself in way over my head. I knew it because of the small flip my stomach had done every time he had smiled. I knew because I hadn't been so set on seeing him again. I mostly knew because of the shock that had run through me when he had touched my shoulder. I hadn't wanted him to pull his hand away, and that frightened me beyond belief.

I was driving at a breakneck speed, not even paying attention to where I was going. I knew no one in my family would worry. I drove for almost an hour, lost in my thoughts of the genuine beaming smile that had crossed his face when I had told him I would be seeing him tomorrow.

It wasn't until I heard the high buzzing noise that accompanied a police speed radar that I slowed down. The noise was as inaudible to human ears as a dog whistle, but to me, it was as clear as the ringing of a phone.

At my slower speed, I was able to look around at what I was passing. I saw a break in the trees and curiosity got the best of me. I turned the steering wheel and disappeared into the woods. The path was only wide enough for one vehicle to pass through. It was made up of a winding, cleared spot through the trees, and two dirt ruts with a row of grass in between. The weeds that grew in the dirt that had been commonly driven on suggested that the path hadn't been used for at least five years.

The path continued, winding and twisting through the trees randomly until I saw the trees beginning to thin and light coming from ahead. When the foliage finally gave way, I felt my breath catch in my throat as a gasp came up. The sight before me was literally breathtaking.

I climbed out of my car, happy to be able to use the speed that came naturally to me, and stared, my mouth hanging open slightly. It was beautiful. There was a long, grassy slope sprawling in front of me with pink, purple, and yellow wildflowers growing everywhere. The night air smelled like daisies and dew. The slope ended in a cliff, and the area overlooked the White Mountains. The moon hung large and full in the sky, causing everything the glow in a way that made the place magical. It was the sort of place that I would have loved to come to paint.

I lay in the grass for a long while, staring at the stars above. I couldn't help being reminded of that first day I had spent in this new life. The day that I had sat staring out over the Appalachian Mountains for hours, marveling at the natural beauty of the place. It seemed so long ago. I let my thoughts drift, flipping lazily through the biggest points in the past twenty-five years.

There was the day that I met Alice and Jasper, then the day I met the rest of my family. There was Renesmee and Jacob's wedding, the day that I had realized the true meaning of love. And then, of course, there was the day the twins had been born. Edward and I had performed the birth because, with the bad luck that we all seemed to have when it came to babies, Carlisle had been out of town when Nessie had gone into labor. We were the only other two who were medically trained. Bella had been just outside the door, pacing, and muttering very quickly about her baby girl being all grown up.

But, as I mused over the hundreds of family memories that were so filled with happiness, one in particular stuck out to me. One memory that had nothing to do with my family. One that I had experienced just a week ago, but had given no thought to. One that I hadn't even noticed with the thousands of things flashing through my head on that first day of school.

The image burned through my mind like a flame, leaving a white hot scar in its place. The picture wouldn't fade, no matter how hard I tried to repress it. No matter how hard my mind tried to block it. What I was seeing was William. He was lying on a bed, biting his lip in that way that I learned he did when he was getting nervous about something. It was a still image. I never got full flashes like a video when it came to humans or animals. Just pictures.

The memory shifted, and I saw him with his mouth open and his eyes scrunched as if he were screaming in excruciating pain. My eyes immediately zeroed in on the crescent shaped gashes on his throat, the rich crimson blood dripping from the wound.

I sat up straight immediately. The fear hit me like a thousand ice soaked knives. This one that I had ignored. One out of at least three hundred death flashes I had gotten that day. It had gone unnoticed. I had been trying too hard to ignore the uncomfortable sensation that came with seeing how people were going to die.

I realized I had ignored an important fact. It was the _only_ important fact. The only thing that mattered to me now, as I darted to my car and literally flew down the path and back down the highway. I was going faster than I had gone before. Faster than I had ever driven, but it still wasn't fast enough. I was back at home within half an hour.

I turned the car off as soon as I had sped up the driveway, not even bothering to go inside to alert them to my panic. Edward would have already heard it. He would already know what was wrong. He would follow me if I knew him at all.

And I was off, running at top speed, simultaneously stuffing my keys into the pocket of my sweater. I heard the sound of a pursuit behind me, but didn't bother pausing to look. I already knew who it would be.

_Slow down. I can't even understand what's wrong,_ I heard him say.

I really was flying. Edward couldn't catch me. I wasn't about to decrease my speed. I flashed the memory in my head, cringing outwardly at the very idea of what I had ignored so easily.

I was at his house within three minutes, and I jumped, landing in a perfectly and silently in a tree that looked into his window. I sighed in relief when I saw him laying there, his face peaceful and faintly flushed. I hadn't expected him to look as he had in my vision, but I noticed that the room I had seen him in was not his own. He was safe here.

But still, I couldn't deny what I had seen. The wounds on his throat were undeniable. They were bite marks. Vampire bite marks.

**A/N: Please please please don't forget to review. Remember, 5 and you get the chapter sooner! 3**

**Thanks for reading!! :)**


	12. Character Profiles

**A/N: This isn't an update, because I didn't get those five reviews I was looking for, but I _did_ get four. So I figured you guys atleast deserved something for taking the five seconds of your time to write down your thoughts. So these are just two quick character profiles I've had saved on my computer since before I actually started posting this story. Joline's profile is a lot longer than William's because I can't post most of William's. It would give too much away. I _think_ everything in here is okay to say. But I might have missed something.**

**So yeah. I hope this helps you get to know the characters better, because I feel like I know them as well as SMeyer says she knows Edward or Bella. They talk in my head. For real. I have so many little blurbs written out and saved under different things on my computer. It's kind of ridiculous. And this is just fan fiction. God I need a life. Lol.**

**Character Profiles:**

**Joline Elizabeth Crosley Masen Cullen:  
**Joline was born Joline Elizabeth Crosley on October 17, 1996, in Orlando, Florida. She moved to Pinecrest, Florida, a suburb outside Miami, with her family when she was four years old. She has a little brother, Alex, who was only five when she was changed. She also has a little sister named Megan, who was seven. Alex is twenty nine at this point in the story, and Megan is thirty one. She also lived with her mother, Susan, and her father, Jack.

She is related to Edward through her father's side of the family. (Aunt/Grandma) Catherine's maiden name was Anthony. So was Elizabeth's (hence Edward's middle name). Joline got her middle name from Edward's mother, her great-great aunt. Edward is her third cousin.

While she was still human, she was a strict vegan. She never ate anything that came from an animal, so the idea of blood repulsed her. That's why she was able to resist human blood so easily. As for her control, Jo was always very subdued while she was human, and never acted on her feelings.

The reason she is so alone at the beginning of Vanishing Acts is because she started working immediately after she turned sixteen because her family couldn't afford to pay for college, and she wanted to be a doctor. The only way for her to attend medical school was if she scrounged every penny she could get her hands on and buried herself in her studies. She drifted from her friends as a result of her focus.

She was changed in February of 2013. Since that time, she's grown into herself and has become very confident in everything she does. Much like Bella, she feels that she was born to be a vampire. She fits so well into the lifestyle. She finally was able to achieve her dream of going to med school, but won't be able to practice because she looks too young.

While human, Jo dwelled on the fact that people had such short lives. She realized that she was wasting her own life, but couldn't do anything about the fact. This tendency to consider that humans can die so easily translated into her ability to see what she calls "death flashes." The images are hazy pictures for animals, sharp still images for humans, and entire videos for vampires. She cannot see the deaths of Jacob, Renesmee, Maggie, or Ryan, and assumes it's because all of them are immortal, but none of them died to become that way. A person's death can be changed, but only if the person causing the death makes a conscious decision not to do so.

The thing she values most in the world is her family, and she is especially close to Edward, Maggie, and Ryan.

**William Joshua Rice:**  
William was born on April 23, 2021 in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and moved to Berlin, New Hampshire when he was seven. He lives with his mother, Anne, and has a dog named Skip. He isn't the kind of person who is easily able to assert himself, so he drifted into the background when it came to social settings.

He's not "weird" in any conventional sense. In fact, if he had the nerves to do so, he might be very popular in his school. He's just painfully shy. As Jo notices, he's a very attractive person, but doesn't realize it. He thinks of himself as plain and boring.

When he meets Joline, he sees the confident, happy person she is now, and is drawn to her. He wants to be like her. Jo sees his shyness and immediately, her heart goes out to him, because he reminds her of herself before she was changed.


	13. Suspicious

**A/N: Alright, so my bribe sort of worked. I hope none of you are mad at me for the character profiles. Like I said, I really love my characters. And I hope you will, too!**

**The more reviews, the sooner the next chapter comes out. :)**

**DazzlingTopaz1901: There's still much more mystery around it. You'll see. :)**

**NymphyLupin92: The suspense at the end of this one is even worse. Haha. You'll just have to keep reading to find out!**

**bloodsucker13: Ahh!**

**JudeMackenzie: Psst...It's a secret. Haha. I can't tell.**

**SkyeVerya: Thanks! That's always been something I've been worried about. That the I'll make the Cullens all OOC and weird. I'm glad you like it. :)**

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Twilight.

**Chapter Twelve: Suspicious**

I finally returned home around four in the morning, reassured from my frantic sprint to William's house. I was finally sure that he was alright, at least for now.

"Where did you go? What happened?" Bella asked as soon as the two of us walked in the door. "All I know is that we heard your car come flying up the driveway, and then Edward had taken off out the door. What's wrong?"

I bit my lip. I didn't really want to recount what I knew. "Umm…I just realized something that was really important. That's all," I muttered, looking at my feet. It hurt to even think about it.

"It's alright. Don't worry about it," Edward added, crossing the room to Bella and putting his arms around her. "I'm sorry I scared you."

"I figured everything was okay, but Jasper about had a heart attack with all of the panic you were letting off," she said, looking over Edward at me.

"Sorry," I muttered again. _I need to be alone for a while._

_Alright. I'll see you later_, Edward responded, nodding, and turned back to Bella.

I was in my room within a second. I began laid down on the couch in the corner and stared blankly at the ceiling. I had to stay around William. I had to be here to protect him. My mind was screaming it at me, but I didn't know why. Why was I so intent on keeping this one person alive? He was just a human. Just another short life ticking closer to its end each day. Why was I so concerned about him? Why did I care? Thousands, probably millions, of humans died every single day. Why was it his life that I was terrified of ending?

I sighed loudly and shook my head back and forth, trying to clear it of the confusing jumble of thoughts. I squeezed my eyes shut tightly for a long time in a vain attempt to fall asleep. It would be so easy if I could just slip into unconsciousness for hours at a time so that I could forget what was happening for just a little while. When I reopened my eyes, the sky outside the window was bright. I looked at the clock across the room. One Thirty. I hadn't realized I had laid there so long.

_You should go hunting before you see him today,_ Edward said as soon as my mind became active again.

_I know,_ I sighed. _I'm getting up._ I was downstairs, pulling my shoes on, and fully dressed two minutes later.

"You going hunting?" Renesmee asked, coming down the stairs in her pajamas with one twin on each hip.

"Yeah. You want to come?" I asked her, and both kids perked up immediately. They were dying to get out there.

"Can we momma, please?" Maggie asked, tugging at her hair gently.

"Yeah. Please?" Ryan put in, bouncing a little in her arm.

"Not right now," she told them, smiling affectionately. "Momma just woke up. I'm tired. Maybe we can later. I want to be there your first time."

They threw their arms in the air and cheered loudly in victory. I laughed.

"Alright, I'll see you later, then," I told them, and kissed each of the twins on their warm cheeks.

"Bye, Jo-Jo!" they yelled in unison after me as I ran out the door.

Their small voices followed me, their words echoing in my ears for a while after I had left. Jo-Jo. I hadn't realized, hadn't thought about it until now, that my little brother and sister used to call me that. Why the realization came to me now, I did not know. It was such a strange time and place for me to be thinking about my human family, as I launched my small body at an elk twice my size, and took it down without effort. I almost didn't notice the thick, crimson liquid flowing down my throat.

When the stream trickled to a stop, I dropped the carcass of the animal onto the ground, and laughed out loud. It was so strange for me to even think of something like that. I smiled to myself. Maybe spending time around a human was resurrecting those old memories for me.

I ran home quickly, and did a once-over in the mirror to make sure I didn't have any flecks of blood on my shirt. That would have made for a pretty awkward explanation. I was pulling out of the driveway by six.

I drummed my fingers lightly on the steering wheel as I pulled up in front of his house. Taking a few deep breaths that did nothing to calm the nerves squirming in my stomach, I slowly opened the door and climbed gracefully out of the car. I made my way up the little path to his front door and rang the doorbell once.

Again, I heard the loud, clomping footsteps approaching the door, and the same woman from last night opened the door, greeting me with the same warm smile and undercover terror.

"Hello, Joline. William said you were coming over again today. Let me just go grab him for you," she said, letting me into the house without turning her back to me.

I smiled and made an effort not to show any of my teeth. I didn't want her running away screaming to the high heavens.

While she was upstairs, I glanced around the room, taking in the homey environment that I hadn't really noticed before. The walls were painted a bright, happy color of blue, and the furniture all looked old, but in the best way. It was furniture that had been loved and used frequently. Over the mantle of the fireplace in the corner was a line of pictures. I began to cross the room to get a closer look when I heard new, scuttling footsteps.

A giant scruffy, brown dog came galloping around the corner, and froze when it saw me. Its lip curled back over its teeth, and a low, menacing growl ripped through its chest. It began to bark loudly, and its ears flattened on top of its wide head. I curled my own lip slightly and hissed warningly, and the animal 

leapt up from where it was crouched in a defensive position, running from the room with its tail between its legs.

I laughed as I watched it go, and heard a voice behind me. "I don't know what's gotten into him. He's usually really friendly," William said, coming down the stairs.

As I watched him walk, he really unnerved me. How could I have not heard him coming? Were my ears going out, or was he really that quiet?

I smiled at him. "I don't know. He just sort of freaked out I guess," I said, hoping he hadn't noticed my way of making him leave.

"So, what are we doing tonight?" he asked, starting toward the door.

I was happy that he didn't seem to have the same aversion to me that his mother did. That most humans did. "Well, I figured we could go get some dinner, and then I have somewhere that I wanted to show you," I said brightly.

"Sounds good," he said, smiling. "Are we taking your car?"

I could hear the excitement in his voice, and laughed. "Yeah, we are. You know, I honestly don't get the whole car enthusiast thing," I said as I watched him sigh at the sight of the vehicle in front of his house.

"I'm not really a car enthusiast, it's just…like…super nice," he laughed.

I shrugged. "Edward's the one who collects cars. I don't really know anything about them, but I think it's pretty," I admitted as we sped off toward town.

"Gah," he groaned, flopping his body into the back of the seat and laughing. "That is such a waste!"

When he laughed, his eyes did that sparkling thing again that took all of my attention. He turned his head to look at me when we stopped in the parking lot of the small restaurant, and I returned his gaze steadily.

I felt my nerves skyrocket as he stared into my eyes silently. What was this feeling? What was I going through right now? Why did I feel like my palms should be sweating all of a sudden? He bit his lip lightly, and his cheeks flushed in a blush.

It was then that, like last night, I became uncomfortably aware of the aroma filling the vehicle, of the thick, wet sloshing of his heartbeat, of the ease of his death. The image of him lying in bed with his mouth wide in a scream flashed through my mind again, and I was out of the car in a flash.

I realized too late that I had moved too quickly. I had panicked, and had forgotten my human charade for a second.

He climbed out of the vehicle a few seconds later, at which point I was leaning casually against the hood, taking deep breaths of the fresh air. He stared at me for a beat in confusion.

"H—how did you get out that fast?" he asked me eventually, haltingly.

"What do you mean? I just climbed out," I lied smoothly.

"But you were there, and then you were gone. Faster than I could blink my eyes," he said, stammering for his words, probably knowing how crazy he sounded.

I stared at my feet and kicked a pebble in the parking lot. "I don't know what you're talking about," I lied again, and, pushing myself up off the car, started toward the doors of the small restaurant.

But he was right beside me, matching my pace. "I'm going to find out what you did there," he told me, and I knew he was telling the truth. He was very observant. "There's something off about you, and I'm going to figure it out."

I grimaced slightly, but said nothing. My hands were in the pockets of my jacket. And I walked with my head down slightly. We made our way into the crowded little building without any more words.

"Hello, a table for one?" the middle aged host asked, looking directly at me when we walked in.

I raised an eyebrow and looked pointedly at William, then back at the man, who was now standing with a single menu in his hand.

"Two," William spoke up, stepping closer to me.

Again, I was baffled by the fact that he wasn't afraid of me. I smiled at him, pleased that he wasn't running or screaming.

"Oh," the man said, his tone significantly less polite. "Follow me, then." He grabbed another menu and sloped off toward a table, dropping the two menus in the middle of the table unceremoniously.

"So you're not mad at me, then?" William asked once the man had left.

"Mad at you? Why would I be mad?" I asked, taken aback.

"Well, you seemed kind of…I don't know…put off when I told you I was going to find out what you're hiding," he told me.

Again, I said nothing.

"And your silence makes me even more convinced that there _is_ something there," he added, opening his menu and glancing down at it.

I sighed loudly so that he would be sure to notice the noise. "Why would you think I'm hiding anything from you?" I asked, staring at him intently across the table.

He put the menu down. "Well, first of all, I've noticed how silently you move. It's not natural. And when you moved that quickly, that was pretty strange. And, I'm not going to pretend I didn't notice, your skin 

is as cold as ice," he told me unblinkingly. And I knew it was true. I knew he had noticed all those things. Of course he had. "And…" he trailed off, biting his lip.

"And what?" I asked, staring at him suspiciously. What else was there that could have been so obvious?

He cleared his throat. "And your eyes change color," he told me quietly, staring into my topaz golden eyes.

I tried very hard to hide my shock. I tried to keep my jaw from dropping, and I succeeded thankfully, but I did feel my eyes going wide. "How did you notice that?" I asked in a soft whisper.

"I'm right? They do? I thought it was just a trick of the light. Now I _know_ you're hiding something," he said, the gleam in his eye almost triumphant.

I realized my mistake, of course. I should have told him he was crazy. I should have told him I had no idea what he was talking about. But I just couldn't bring myself to lie to him again. I pinched the bridge of my nose. "Can we please not talk about this?" I asked. "You can formulate theories in your mind all you want, but let's not talk about it right now."

"I'm going to figure it out," he repeated again, but dropped the subject.

After that, conversation came easily again. We talked about unstrained topics, like school. I was just starting to talk about my family when the waitress came with our food. She set it down on the table, keeping her eyes on William, and walked away swinging her hips seductively.

I scowled at her retreating back end.

He laughed. "What's wrong with you?" he asked, laughing a little as he speared a ravioli with his fork.

I jerked my head at the waitress. "She's so…forward. It gets on my nerves," I replied.

He smirked. "Well, if it makes you jealous…" he began.

"Shut up," I said, rolling my eyes at him, but not denying his assumption.

He took another bite of pasta and stared at me while he chewed. He gestured at my food with his fork. "Aren't you going to eat anything?" he asked, and his tone suggested he knew something he shouldn't have.

I calculated him for a moment before picking up my fork. I stared down at the food on my plate. I had ordered a very rare steak just in case he got suspicious and did just this. Still, I didn't really want to eat it. I poked it cautiously with the end of my knife.

"It's not going to bite you," he said, his tone amused.

_That's the problem_, I thought, and speared it with my fork. I cut off a small chunk and popped it in my mouth, chewing quickly. I managed to swallow, and tried to keep the grimace off my face. I failed 

horribly. I hadn't tried human food since, well, since I had been human. I gagged in surprise at the awful taste of the spices on the meat, and barely got it down.

"I'm not really hungry," I said in a small voice, humbled by my bad reaction to the food.

He laughed at me, instead of looking surprised or alarmed by my choking. "That's going on my list, you know," he told me matter-of-factly. "I'm not talking about it, but it's going on the list of suspicious behavior."

I gave up being frustrated with him for it. I laughed with him, and pushed the plate away. "Alright, I'll give you that one. I didn't make it too cryptic that I don't like the food."

"So, if you're not going to eat it, can I? This ravioli is kind of disappointing," he told me, staring at the steak.

"Go for it. Steak is man food anyway, right?" I asked, and shoved it further toward him.

He sliced into it with his fork, and took a bite. "Ugh. Why is it, like, raw?" he asked in slight surprise.

I grinned meekly. "You can have it cooked more if you want. I'm sure that waitress would do anything for you."

It was his turn to tell me to shut up. "The waitress isn't any worse than that host. He was practically undressing you with his eyes," he said.

I knew that if I could have, I would be blushing. He had noticed. Well, of course he had, but it made me strangely happy that it had made him at least a little jealous.

"You know what? I'm not even really hungry anymore. You want to get out of here?" he asked a few minutes later, putting his fork down.

I just nodded, still staring at the way the light was hitting his hair.

The waitress came bustling over to our table then, probably having noticed the finality of his pushed away plate.

"Is there _anything_ else I can get you?" she asked suggestively.

He raised an eyebrow, just as I had done to the host, and shot a glance at me that made me fall into a fit of silent giggles. The woman's eyes strayed to me, and she looked annoyed, almost as if I were the one intruding on her evening with William.

"We'll just take the check," I told her, trying to keep my laughter to a minimum.

She pulled it out of her apron pocket and set it on the table in front of William, smiling sweetly at him, and turning to ignore me again.

He reached for it, but I put my hand on his. That same jolt of electricity shot up my arm, and I knew he felt it too. His eyes widened, but that could have been from the coolness of my touch.

I slipped a fifty dollar bill into the black booklet and handed it to her. "Keep the change," I muttered, standing up from the table.

When we reached the car, I sat still for a second, not turning the key. My hands were gripped on the wheel, and I could hear William's pulse pounding in his ears. I sighed, letting all my breath out in one gush. There was no way around this. He was too observant as it was. He would figure it out himself eventually with a little research. And I knew what I had seen. I knew how he would die. If I could prepare him, maybe I could save him.

"I need to tell you something…" I began, wondering to myself if I was about to make the biggest mistake of my existence.

* * *

**A/N: Please review! It makes me smile! :)**


	14. Truth

**A/N: Two days in a row?! Sweet! This is what happens when I get beaucoup reviews! (Ps...that's French for a lot) So you should keep reviewing a lot. **

**DazzlingTopaz1901: Yeah, I guess it is pretty similar. I'm trying hard not to just rewrite Twilight, though. :)**

**SkyeVerya: Don't be too angry! Haha. I got the next chapter out SUPER soon. So smile!**

**bloodsucker13: Yeah, I'm so worth it. Haha.**

**DarlingDisaster-xo: Gracias! Thanks for reading. I hope you like the next chapter!**

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Twilight.

**Chapter Thirteen: Truth**

RECAP:

_When we reached the car, I sat still for a second, not turning the key. My hands were gripped on the wheel, and I could hear William's pulse pounding in his ears. I sighed, letting all my breath out in one gush. There was no way around this. He was too observant as it was. He would figure it out himself eventually with a little research. And I knew what I had seen. I knew how he would die. If I could prepare him, maybe I could save him._

"_I need to tell you something…" I began, wondering to myself if I was about to make the biggest mistake of my existence._

"I need to tell you this, and I'm telling you that if you want to run away, you can. I won't chase you. The door is unlocked, and you can feel free to scream as much as you want," I said, and I heard his pulse pick up.

"Why would I run?" he asked, though his voice quivered with the words.

"I'm dangerous, William. You never should have spoken to me," I said, staring out the windshield without really seeing anything. "You never should have gotten involved with me."

He drew a deep breath, but it was shaky and I could tell he was nervous without even looking at him. "You said you had something you wanted to show me," he said in a whisper after a moment of silence. "Maybe we should do that. If you're going to tell me what's going on, I don't want it to be in such a public place."

I turned slowly, my eyes wide, staring at him as though I couldn't believe my ears. "I just told you that I'm dangerous, and you want to go off to somewhere with no one around?" I asked in slight disbelief.

"I trust you," he told me, and his hand reached forward to touch me for a third time.

I flinched when his skin made contact with mine. Not because I didn't want him to touch me, but because I was afraid for him. I was afraid of what he was feeling and afraid of what the temptation of his warmth could make me do to him. "Don't," I told him, my voice coming out in a cracked whisper. "You have no idea how easily I could…kill you. Please. Don't trust me."

He swallowed heavily and pulled his hand back. "I'll make a compromise with you, then," he told me, staring at me determinedly.

"No. No compromises. I can't do this to you," I said, not quite meeting his gaze.

"You can tell me on the way there," he said as though I hadn't already denied him. "And if I want to get out, I'll just tell you to stop."

Even in the tense atmosphere, I couldn't help rolling his eyes at this plan. "What if I told you we were going all the way to Maine? What would you do then?" I asked, sarcasm biting in my tone despite my fear for his safety.

His face dropped out of its stressed expression as well, and he pointed at his pocket. "I have a cell phone. I could always call someone."

"A cell phone would never save you from me," I whispered, falling back into my previous state.

"Well, if you kill me in Maine, then at least I died outside of this sleepy little town," he told me. "You know how much I don't like this place. It would be nice to not end my life here."

I raised an eyebrow at him. "Don't tempt me," I said, only half joking. I sighed heavily as I pulled out of the parking spot and started down the street at a top speed. "I don't even know how to begin to tell you this."

"Well, would you rather I just asked you a bunch of questions? I'm guessing we'll be in the car for a while since we're going so far?" he asked.

I nodded. "Yeah, maybe that would be better."

"Okay. So, why don't you eat?" he began, fiddling with a string on his shirt.

"I can't eat food. I don't digest it," I told him simply. "My body doesn't do that."

"Well, what's going to happen to that bite of steak you had?" he asked curiously.

"Truth?" I asked, and he nodded. "I'll have to throw it up sometime soon. Otherwise it will just sit in there forever."

"Eww…that's really gross," he admitted.

"And you didn't even have to taste it from my perspective. How you can eat that food I have no idea," I told him, shuddering at the memory.

"So what _do_ you eat?" he asked me.

I glanced at him nervously, and he met my gaze steadily. "Ask a different question," I told him quietly.

"What? No, you have to answer," he protested. "What's the point of this if you're not going to answer?"

"I will. Just not right now. Ask some more first. Please," I practically begged. As much as I couldn't lie to him, I couldn't let myself just spit out the gruesome truth without knowing his reaction to some other things first.

"Fine. But you promised you would answer," he said, crossing his arms over his chest. "Well, why's your skin so cold and…and hard, then?"

I bit my lip as I watched the trees flash by at the alarming speed I was driving. I took a deep breath and looked at him out of the corner of my eye, ready to gauge his reaction to my answer. "Because my body is technically dead," I told him softly.

"You mean like a…umm…like a vampire?" he asked in a small voice, his face going white.

"Yes," I replied coolly. "Exactly like a vampire. William, I'm not human." I saw the fear flash across his face, and a piece of my heart broke off. I didn't want him to be afraid of me, but I knew it was what was best. I tapped the brake lightly with my foot and pulled onto the shoulder of the highway. "Go ahead. You can run. I promise I won't follow," I said, repeating my words from earlier.

He turned to me in his seat instead of getting out like I had expected him to. "How much further until we get there?" he asked me.

I frowned slightly, taken aback by his comment. "What?" I asked finally, shaking my head.

"How much longer?" he repeated, staring into my golden eyes.

"You…You're not going to run?" I asked feebly. "Why? Do you have a death wish? Are you insane?"

He rolled his eyes, and I was again surprised by the lightness of his tone. "I told you that I trust you. Even though you don't trust yourself," he said understandingly. "That's it, isn't it? You don't trust yourself, do you?"

I felt tears well up inside me, but I knew they would never fall. All I knew was the faint stinging in my eyes as they began to glisten at the truth of his words. I dropped my head into my hands in shame. "I don't know if I'm strong enough to be with you," I told him in a whisper. "I don't know if I can resist. But, God, I wish I could. I don't want to hurt you."

I felt his long, warm fingers wrap around my wrists gently and attempt to tug my hands away from my face. I moved my hands for his benefit, because he never would have been able to do it himself. He didn't release my wrists, but I didn't meet his gaze. He ducked his head down so I was forced to look at him.

"You're a good person, Jo," he told me in a soft voice. "It doesn't matter whether you're a human or a fish. I don't care. You haven't hurt me yet, and I don't think you will."

"You've only known me for two days, though, William!" I cried in exasperation. "You don't have any idea what I could do to you. You couldn't even begin to comprehend how strong I am."

He moved his hands from my wrists to my shoulders. "I trust you," he repeated again, his words slow.

"But how could you? Didn't you hear me? I'm a _vampire_," I said, squeezing my eyes shut. "I know you probably don't believe me, but it's true. I am a vampire. A 'creature of the night'. Undead. Eternally damned. You know? Like…evil and stuff?"

He chuckled softly. "Oh, I believe you. But you're definitely not evil. How ironic is it that I took you to that movie last night? I swear I had no idea. But you're nothing like that guy. You're not Transylvanian. And you don't have greasy hair or a widow's peak. And I don't think you wear a cape. And I haven't seen you massacring anything."

I definitely avoided his eyes after that comment.

"Wait…you _don't_ go around massacring people, do you?" he asked, nerves showing through his voice finally. He didn't, however, remove his hands from me. "Do you?"

"Not people, no," I said, quietly, staring at the gear shift between us. "I've never tasted human blood." I felt him shudder at the word blood, and I twisted out of his grasp and started the car again. "I can't believe I'm actually doing this," I muttered to myself as I started back down the road.

"So you really…you know…drink blood, then?" he asked, his voice shaking a little.

"Animal blood, yes. We resist human blood as a moral choice, but there aren't many of our kind that do," I said, staring straight ahead at the road.

"Are there a lot of you?" he asked.

"Not a lot compared to the number of humans, but more than you would expect. My family is the largest coven we know of," I said. "There are ten vampires living under one roof, and that's a lot."

"Nine? I thought you said there were fourteen of you?" he said in confusion.

"Oh, that. Well…Renesmee is only half vampire. Edward is her father and she was born when Bella was still human," I said, as I saw the break in the trees coming. I turned abruptly and began up the bumpy path.

"Edward? I thought he was her younger brother. He's a _dad?_" he asked, and I saw his eyes widen a little in the moonlight.

"He's a grandfather. Maggie and Ryan are Renesmee's children, and Jacob is her husband," I told him. The path widened just as it had last night, and I parked the car in the grass. We got out of the car, and I quickly flattened a blanket onto the sloping field while William stared out over the mountains, smiling.

"Well, what does that make Jacob, then? And the two little kids? What are they?" he asked once we sat down facing each other cross-legged.

I smiled gently, and bit my lip. "Are you sure you want to know?" I asked him tentatively.

"What could be worse than a house full of vampires?" he asked, rolling his eyes.

"Werewolves," I said, watching him carefully.

He played with a piece of grass that he had plucked from the ground and didn't look up until his face was carefully composed. "Well, I definitely know how to pick friends, don't I?" he asked finally.

I laughed, and the wind chime sound echoed around us, mingling with the sound of his own laugh. After a few minutes, we lapsed into silence. I stared at him and, for once, didn't glance away when he caught me looking. We sat there gazing at each other for a few moments, the only noise his heartbeat and our 

steady breathing. The moment was peaceful, and felt like something I could never deserve. I didn't realize how closely we were sitting until his hand reached out and grasped mine gently. I didn't resist his touch, and he pulled my hand into his lap, playing with my fingers gently.

"Can I ask you another question?" he murmured after a few minutes.

"Mmhmm," I answered vaguely. I was lost in the warmth flowing up my arm. The feeling was very relaxing.

He didn't say anything for a while. "How old are you?" he asked finally, looking up to meet my eyes.

I bit my lip, calculating quickly. "Forty-two," I said softly, looking at my hand in his. "I'm old enough to be your mother. Does that make me a pedophile?"

He smiled widely. "Is what we have worthy of pedophilia?" he asked.

My eyes rose to meet his. "I want it to be," I admitted in a whisper. I hadn't even admitted it to myself before now.

His relieved sigh confused me until he spoke. "Thank God," he said, his heartbeat picking up. "I was so afraid you were totally going to reject me."

I just smiled, not saying anything. I laid down on the blanket, gazing up at the stars, and felt him freeze next to me. I rolled my head to the side to look at him with my eyebrows furrowed. "What?" I questioned.

"How did you lay down that fast?" he asked in an awed voice.

I blinked. I hadn't even realized I had moved at a normal speed. It was too easy to be myself with him. "Vampire, remember?" I said, pointing to myself.

He nodded slowly and laid down next to me. I wriggled my body closer to his, and he wrapped an arm around my shoulder. We laid in silence for a moment. I was listening to his heartbeat, and he was playing with my hair unconsciously.

"I have another question," he muttered into my hair after a while.

"Shoot," I said softly.

"How do you come to school? It's during the day," he said. His tone screamed confusion. "I just realized that."

"We don't sleep in coffins during the day," I told him. "We don't sleep at all."

"You don't _sleep_?" he asked. "What happens to you in the sun?"

I chuckled softly. "You should have seen me on my first day. I was totally freaking out because I didn't know what would happen. It's something you kind of just have to see," I admitted. "I don't know how to describe it."

"Try. I want to know," he prompted.

I twisted my head around so I could see his face. He looked down at me, just inches away. "I glitter," I said simply.

His face broke into a smile and he began to laugh. "Seriously? I've got to see this," he said.

"I'll ask Alice when it's going to be sunny next," I said without really thinking about what I was saying.

"How would she know any better than you do?" he asked me.

"Oh. Well, some of us have special…talents…that were intensified when we were changed. She can tell the future," I said, and I felt his arm tighten around me.

"Like a psychic?" he asked. I nodded. "First vampires, then werewolves, now psychics? What else is there?"

"Well, Edward can read minds," I said in a small voice. "And Jasper can change your emotions. And I…well…yeah." I had trailed off lamely. I realized then that I didn't want to tell him what I was capable of. I didn't want him to know. It was too disturbing.

"What do you do?" he asked me warily. When I said nothing, his hand stopped running through my hair. "That bad, huh? Worse than psychics and vampires and mind readers?"

"Pretty much," I said. I could feel his heartbeat speed up against my side, and I took a deep breath. "I…When I touch someone for the first time, I see the way they'll die."

His body froze, and his heart stopped for a second. I didn't look at him. I knew he was trying to compose himself. "So you know…how I'll…you know…"

I just nodded. I didn't trust myself to speak. The images of him lying in pain flashed through my mind. I clenched my jaw tightly, promising myself I would keep him safe.

"Don't ever tell me," he whispered into my ear. "Promise that."

I closed my eyes as I felt his warm breath tickle the back of my neck. I couldn't deny him. "Never," I swore.

His body relaxed then, and he began fidgeting with my hair again. After another long while, I felt him shiver next to me, and I sighed.

"We should probably get up," I said regretfully. "I don't want you to freeze to death. And your mother is probably going to kill me for bringing you home so late."

He was silent for a minute, but sat up after a while. "You're probably right. What time is it?" he asked.

I looked down at my watch. "Twelve-thirty. Yeah, I'm definitely dead."

"Well, I already knew that," he joked, rolling his eyes.

"Thanks a lot," I said sarcastically, and laughed. "Do you mind if I drive really fast?" I asked him, picking the blanket up off the ground before he could blink.

"Faster than you normally drive? Why not? I live my life on the edge," he said, shrugging. I saw him try to keep his eyes on me as I zipped back to the car and climbed in.

I chuckled, rolling down the window. "What are you waiting for?" I asked. "Let's hit the road!"

He just rolled his eyes and made his way back to the car. As soon as his door was closed, I hit the gas and went speeding off down the path. When I hit the road, I gunned it, speeding up to well over one hundred miles per hour. I smiled at the speed, and rolled down William's window, letting the wind blow my hair around. When I glanced over at him, I noticed he was watching me with that same dazed expression I used when looking at him.

"What is it?" I asked, trying to be heard over the wind.

He blushed as soon as I had spoken. "You're just…you're beautiful," he admitted, looking down at his lap.

A smile spread across my face. "Hey," I said, tapping his chin upward. "You're not too bad yourself."

The silence for the remainder of the ride wasn't awkward. It was perfect. Peaceful, unbroken silence surrounded us. When I pulled up to his house, his hand hovered over mine for just a few seconds.

"Good night," he whispered, and opened the door, heading up the path toward his house. He stopped after just a few steps and turned back. "Will I see you tomorrow?" he asked me.

I shook my head. "Nope. I'm going hunting in northern Maine with Emmett, Rosalie, and Alice tomorrow," I replied. "I'll see you on Monday, though."

"Alright," he said a little bit sadly. "I'll see you then."

He turned to walk back into his house, and I pulled off down the street. My mind was whirling and I realized, with a sudden start, that a piece of me that I hadn't realized had been missing was in place.

**A/N: Don't forget to review! It takes like three seconds and they make me smile. **

**:)**


	15. Argument

**A/N: Okay, so I know it's taking me a while to get these out, but thanks SO SO much for reviewing, guys! I'm happy that people actually like this story, because, as I've said, Jo and William are like children to me. :) This one doesn't have "actual" William in it until the end, but he's the topic of discussion the entire time. You'll see.**

**ALSO: IMPORTANT!! THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS SLIGHT MIDNIGHT SUN SPOILERS! (Yes, I caved and read the leak.) IT'S IN THE FORM OF A SMALL FLASHBACK BY EDWARD, AND I'LL MARK IT. IF YOU DON'T WANT TO KNOW, JUST SKIP THAT PARAGRAPH. (Sorry about the all caps. I wanted to make sure you saw it.) (and may I just say...aww! Poor Edward! He's so ridiculously self conscious!) Also, my view of Edward as a character has changed a tiny bit, but I'll try to keep him the same as he was...ish. SMeyer was right. He's so much more complex than I ever imagined.**

**SkyeVerya: Glad you liked it! I was honestly sort of afraid I was having her tell him _too_ soon, so it's good to know it was the right time.**

**DazzlingTopaz1901: Yeah, that curiosity is sort of what gave me the idea for this story. I didn't want to read a "Edward is human, Bella's a vampire" story, but I wanted something from a female perspective. **

**Nymphy Lupin92: No, it's cool. I'm glad you liked it!**

**Jude Mackenzie: Thanks! Glad to hear you liked them!**

**bloodsucker13: Psst...I love you too! Haha. (Not creepy of course.) Lol.**

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Twilight

**Chapter Fourteen: Argument**

"You _told_ him?!"

This was the first thing I heard when I walked through the front door. Rosalie's outraged screech rung in my ears and reverberated through my body. I had known that this would come, but I hadn't been expecting it so soon. The entire family, with the exception of Renesmee, Jake, and the twins, were assembled in the large living room. They were placed around the room with the pretense of normalcy, but I knew trouble was brewing just under the surface.

"Of all the things that you could have done, why would you go and just tell him? Just like that?" she asked, gesturing wildly with her hands.

"Rose, calm down," Emmett said, rubbing the small of her back gently.

She shook him off violently, and took a step toward me, her fists clenched at her sides. "What _is _it with your family?" she asked, glancing between Edward and I. "Why must you always feel the need to open your mouths to any human who gets close to you?"

Edward growled viciously, and twitched from where he stood, leaning against the mantle. Bella's arms were quick to hold him back, but her vice-like grip did nothing to stop his shouts.

"How dare you say something like that?! You are out of line for even thinking it!" he roared.

"It's not my fault you two have a weird fetish for _humans_." She spat the word as if it were something dirty, contaminated.

"Since when are you so against humans, Rose, huh?" Alice piped up. "No, Jasper, let me be angry. If I remember correctly, you obsessed over Bella _and_ Ness when they were both pregnant. Or is it just the baby aspect that appeals to you? Is that it?"

"But I _knew_ them at that point!" she cried, throwing her hands in the air once more. "This is just my point. How do you know that he's not the same as the rest of them? You don't! Because you hardly even know the boy, Jo!"

"She will," Alice argued, and the secret that she had been so carefully guarding began to show up in Edward's head. "She _will_ know him. We all will."

I saw a flicker of what Alice had been hiding. All I was able to catch, though, was scenery outside the window that was foreign to me. Her vision took place somewhere that I had never been.

"But what she did was so rash! What if everything you're predicting so faithfully, oh great seer, doesn't come true? What if he makes some spur of the moment decision to tell everyone he knows?" she shrieked. "What if he's no better than anyone out there and the only thing he was really after was to get in Jo's pants like the rest of them? What will you say to me then, Alice?"

"Don't you dare talk about him that way," I said, my voice low, but full of menace. It was the first time I had spoken since I had entered the house.

She was briefly taken aback by my tone, but recovered quickly. "You know I could be right. He could just be some spineless little child with base desires," she said, but she seemed to realize she had struck a nerve.

I felt my lip curl over my teeth and the angry, defensive snarl was ripping through my throat before I even realized I was making the sound. "You have no idea what you are talking about, you arrogant, self-centered, know it all," I said, my voice now a threatening whisper.

Emmett moved in front of her protectively, but I could see the pain it caused him written all over his face. He obviously didn't want to think of me as a threat, but Rosalie was his number one priority. She leaned around him impatiently, a jeering smirk on her face. She opened her mouth to speak again, but was cut off.

"Rosalie, that is enough," Carlisle said in his cool, calming voice. The room instantly went silent. "You have obviously made your opinions on the matter clear. Now, please, if we could just talk this out like civilized people."

He moved to stand at the head of the table, and Esme sat down on his left side, taking his hand in her own. Edward sat down on his right, and the rest of us followed without protest. Carlisle's word was law in our family.

He cleared his throat and laid his hand on Edward's shoulder before beginning to speak. "Now, as we all know, this is not the first time our secret has been exposed to a human. We were all, regrettably, very wary of Edward's decision when it came to Bella. But we have accepted her into our family completely," he said, turning to smile warmly at her. "And after Renesmee was born, Jacob told Charlie of his abnormality, and we all accepted that, and were willing to share our stories with him too, if he had ever wanted to know the truth."

Rosalie was glowering at me from across the table. "But—"

She was cut off by Carlisle holding up a single hand. "As I was saying, we have accepted their choices wholly. For us to not do the same for Joline would be complete and unforgiveable hypocrisy. I believe that we have no choice but to accept this new addition, as well. Rosalie, you have made your opinions on the matter clear, and Joline, you may choose to regard those views as you see fit. If anyone else has something to say, feel welcome to voice those ideas now."

Alice was on her feet almost before Carlisle had closed his mouth. "Well, I say she did the right thing," she said, beaming at me, "but he's going to be even faster than Edward."

We all frowned lightly in confusion at her statement, but the explanation was soon made clear as she let her carefully constructed wall fall away. I saw her vision in full for the first time. This was what she had been hiding from me all this time. Edward's strangled gasp matched my own as the picture in Alice's mind burst into clear view. It was a very clear image of William and me, laughing happily and sitting on the floor of some unidentified house, my head thrown back, consumed in a fit of giggles at some future private joke that we would share, while he gazed at me with a small smile playing on his lips and deep 

adoration swimming in his loving eyes. But the most shocking part of the vision was not this. It wasn't the strange setting, either. No, the thing that made my eyes bulge out of my head was far more significant than either of these. What made my breath catch in my throat, my knees go weak for a split second, and my head reel, was the sight of William with glistening, amber eyes, his skin hard and pale and perfect and immortal. It was the glittering wedding ring on my left hand and the fact that he had a matching band around his. It was the unalterable future of William as a vampire.

Everyone else's eyes had gone wide as well. They had inferred the meaning of her comment.

She was smiling wider than ever now and was staring at me with an even broader grin. "This future is even more certain than what I saw for Edward and Bella. I can only see one other possible path," she told me.

What flashed in her mind then was painful to look at, and I flinched instinctively from it. William, laying lifeless in my arms, my eyes a glistening red and my face scrunched in anguish.

_You won't let that happen. You'll be fine. I know you will,_ Edward told me reassuringly as soon as he sensed the terror that accompanied the image. _I believe in you._

"But I'm not so sure I believe in myself," I muttered aloud, too distracted to even notice I had spoken the words.

"He believes in you, doesn't he, honey," Esme said suddenly, her soft voice ringing out like a bell. It was the first time she had spoken since I had returned. It upset her greatly when we fought.

I nodded absently. "He believes in me more than I think I believe in myself. But that might be a bad thing. A very bad thing," I said, biting my lower lip.

"That sounds like someone I know," Bella said, rolling her eyes slightly at Edward. "You'll be fine, Jo. I know you will." She unknowingly echoed her husband's thoughts.

"Thank you," I said softly. "Thank you, everyone." I turned to look at Rosalie warily. She was still glaring at me from across the table. "Rose, I know you're mad, but please. Don't do this. Don't resent me like I know you did Edward. No good came of it, and everything turned out fine in the end."

"Carlisle's right," she admitted grudgingly. "It _is _your decision. I just want you to be aware of the risks that could come with this. You can't take back what you told him tonight, even if it turns out to be a mistake." Her expression turned less hostile as she spoke the words, and I breathed a small sigh of relief. Years ago, she would not have been as willing to accept the course I had taken. I gave all my thanks to Edward and Bella for that.

_You're welcome,_ he said, smiling faintly at me. I knew he had squeezed Bella's hand under the table, though I didn't see it.

"I know you're just looking out for me," I muttered. "I just hope that you'll be able to see in him what I do. He's a good person, Rose."

She nodded a little, but still didn't smile. There was silence at the table for a few seconds before Emmett broke into a booming laugh. Everyone jumped slightly and stared at him in confusion.

"This is the first 'family meeting' that we've had without something breaking," he said.

Jasper let out a small chuckle, and Edward followed his brothers. Then, because the two of us shared a mind so closely, I was laughing along with them, and Jasper reverberated the feeling through everyone until we were all laughing loudly. By the time we had quieted, the feeling of tension had disappeared, and it felt silly and formal to be sitting at this table, staring at each other.

The group scattered randomly, and we were soon off to our own entertainment. Emmett, Rosalie, Alice, and I left quickly after, and returned the next day with light butterscotch eyes.

I debated with myself briefly on Monday morning about whether I wanted to wait to see William at school, or if I wanted to see him sooner. If I chose the latter, I could always pick him up in my own car, but that would certainly attract attention. Extra attention was not a good thing for us. On the other hand, he had been so calm about the whole vampire thing on Saturday that I was a little worried that he would have completely freaked out over the remainder of the weekend or decided that I was crazy, in which case I wanted to see him as soon as possible so that I could know our standing. The whole debate was ridiculously confusing.

_Just wait to see him at school,_ Edward said, and I heard him walk to my door. I turned to see him leaning against the doorframe casually. _I know it's hard, but humans don't feel things as quickly as we do. Give him some time. You have no idea how difficult it was for me to act indifferent around Bella when my mind was screaming that I loved her._

I scowled at this thought. _So I just have to hide that from him?_ I asked, doubting I could do it, and Edward nodded glumly. _How?_

He shrugged. _It's not an easy thing to do,_ he told me, sympathy written on his features. _But you need to keep it light. That's what I was constantly telling myself around Bella at first. You can't make your feelings so obvious._

I sighed. I knew he was right. Of course he was. If I was honest with William, I would seem too forward, and it would scare him off. But, if I was honest with myself, I didn't know exactly what it was that I was feeling. It was hard to be sure with so many things flying around in my mind. I had only really known the boy for three days. Was this short amount of time enough to feel something like Edward described? Love? Was it even possible? Yet it felt like so much more than just three short days ago that we had laughed together at that ridiculous movie. It seemed like a lifetime ago. So much had changed since then. He knew my secret. I could be myself with him. But did that mean that I _loved _him? The attachment I felt to him scared me, and I could see what Edward meant. William would never be able to 

comprehend this feeling so soon, especially when I couldn't even do so myself. So I settled for seeing him at school.

_I don't even know what it is that I'm feeling for him,_ I admitted, pulling my jeans on in one swift motion.

Edward just smiled. _I know you don't,_ he said, and would not let anything else on the subject pass through his mind.

_C'mon, kid. We gotta go,_ Emmett thought, and I heard it echoed into my head. _Where's Jo? She's not down here either._

I laughed. _Why does he even bother acting like I can't hear him?_ I asked, rolling my eyes. I grabbed my bag from the couch in my room, slinging it over my shoulder smoothly. The designer leather felt smooth against my shoulders.

_Denial?_ Edward suggested jokingly. _Race you there._

I took off before the words had really even formed themselves in his head, but he still beat me down to the cars. We rocketed into sight at top speed, stopping inches from Renesmee, who had been standing outside talking to Alice and Bella. She jumped when she felt the wind of our motion hit her and saw us so close to her.

"Jesus, dad!" she exclaimed. "I hate it when you move that fast."

She was almost as quick as the rest of us, but we were still able to catch her by surprise every once in a while.

He just smirked and kissed her lightly on her forehead. "Have a good day, sweetheart," he said softly.

"Have fun at high school," she replied mockingly.

His smile turned to a sarcastic grimace. "Thanks so much."

We took the usual two vehicles to school, but I fidgeted constantly on the way there. It was a strange because perfect stillness had always been a marker of our kind. So my nerves were very obvious to everyone in the car even without Jasper throwing me annoyed glances in the rearview mirror every few seconds. My insides squirmed as we drew closer and closer to Berlin High.

"He's not here yet," Alice told me confidently when we turned smoothly into the parking lot. "He'll arrive in two minutes and nineteen seconds. I don't know what you're so worried about. You know how it's going to turn out." She still seemed slightly disappointed in herself for letting the knowledge slip. She had wanted it to be a secret. A surprise, she had explained. She wouldn't have kept it from me if I'd had the same feelings on our immortality as Edward used to, but she knew I was different. I favored to view my vampirism in the same way Bella always had: as a blessing. It had brought me out of the most colorless time in my life, and I firmly believed others in similar situations would feel the same.

"I don't want him to think I'm any more of a freak," I muttered self-consciously.

I saw Edward flinch slightly at my words. A small scene played in my head.

**(A/N: Midnight Sun Spoiler!)**

Edward darted out of the shadows into a sun-filled backyard. A human Bella slept peacefully on the ground, her hair spilling out around her. He watched the rainbow sparkles bouncing off his skin and onto her pale face. _Could I be any more of a freak?_ he had thought, self disgust dripping from every word.

**(A/N: End)**

_What can I say?_ I thought lamely. _We think too much alike._

I stood from the car quickly, lifting my bag onto my back, and leaned against the trunk, pretending to wait for my brothers and sisters. They all knew what I was really doing, though.

_Five, four, three, two, one,_ Alice thought, laughing lightly.

As soon as her countdown ended, his car pulled into the lot. "I'll see you guys later," I mumbled vaguely, starting for his parking spot.

Alice's laugh followed me there, and I heard her through Edward's mind. _Just let me know when I get to meet him._

An odd sensation flowed through me as I approached him. His face was pale as ever, but slightly flushed. He was in a hurry this morning, and it took me a moment to realize we were running late to class. The feeling that overcame me was one of slight surprise. Where was it coming from? Was it that I was seeing him like this? Human and fragile and warm? Was it that I had seen the way he _would _be, had been dwelling over it all weekend? I laid the two pictures of him side by side in my head. Pale and unbreakable next to pale and _very _breakable. I smiled to myself. Not much of a difference.

I took in the whole picture, trying to see if I could find anything there that would have made me feel surprised. I laughed when I noticed the car he was sitting in. This was part of the change. I had only seen him admiring mine. Now I knew why he was so jealous. As I approached the rusting hunk of metal, I couldn't help but laugh a little. It really was a piece of junk.

"Nice wheels," I said calmly, leaning against the passenger door next to where he was in the process of standing up and gathering his things.

He jumped, cursing under his breath. "You scared the crap out of me," he admitted, trying hard to slow his heart rate to normal. "And thanks so much for the compliment. Not all of us can own '39 convertibles."

"Yeah, well I might just have to give you a ride. This thing is a walking death trap," I commented, picking off a piece of the rust.

"And that would make you what?" he asked, the sarcasm in his voice light and joking.

I smiled, happy that he didn't seem bothered by my lifestyle. "Good point."

I watched him heave his book bag out of the car and lift it onto his shoulder, slumping with the effort. I plucked it off him with one finger, holding it in front of me effortlessly.

"I can carry my own things," he told me, raising an eyebrow.

"Not very well," I said, smiling as I started toward the school.

"I managed to carry them before you came along," he muttered.

"Just trying to help," I said with a shrug, and tossed the bag at him as if I were flicking a paper ball.

His arms reached out instinctively to catch it, having seen the effortlessness with which I handled myself, but the heavy bag buckled his arms and hit the floor at his feet. "Show off," he teased, smiling.

"I would throw the car into the woods for you, too, but that might cause something of a spectacle," I replied in the same tone.

The bell rang over our heads, signaling that we only had a minute to get to class. I had intentionally led him straight to his first period without his notice. He looked at the door in slight surprise. "I didn't even realize where we were walking," he said.

"I'll see you in Chemistry," I replied simply, and, because class was about to start and the halls were empty, I darted down the hallway, looking to him as though I had disappeared into thin air.

**A/N: You guys did FABULOUS on the review front last chapter, so please keep giving me feedback!**

**3 :)**


	16. Realization

**A/N: I know this one took me even LONGER to get out than the last one, but oh well. My computer broke down, and I've been writing this on my family computer. It's weird to type on a real keyboard instead of a laptop, but oh well. I got it done. I hope you like it. :)**

**PS: The "chagrin" count for Midnight Sun is 9. NINE! Just thought you should know.**

**TwilightChic17: Haha. Called it! Why thank you! :)**

**DazzlingTopaz1901: Well, that's a compliment I hope. :) Stephenie is a great writer. I never really try to write like her. It's just kind of my style I guess. :) Thanks. I'm glad you liked it.**

**SkyeVerya: Haha. Unexpected is good. Glad you liked it.**

**Jude Mackenzie: Happy! Yeah! They're so cute. :)**

**NymphyLupin92: Well, that just makes me smile! Thanks!**

**bloodsucker13: Haha. I'm a nerd and don't really even mind homework. Glad you liked it.**

**MissyAnn7448: I'm glad you're liking it so far. You'll just have to keep reading to see all the drama! :)**

**fingercraker: Well, what kind of a Twilight story would it be without Vulturi. But I will say NOTHING on what's going to happen. Haha. Just keep reading. :)**

**WOW! That was a lot of reviews. Keep them coming, guys! :)**

DISCLAIMER: I own nothing Twilight.

**Chapter Fifteen: Realization**

The hours leading up to our shared Chemistry class seemed to drag on and on. We didn't even have lunch together to break up the time. The school was big enough, and the cafeteria small enough, that the lunches were split into three parts. I watched the second hand ticking by and, for the first time in over twenty years, I was mad at myself for being what I was. If I couldn't hear the mechanism inside the clock turning the little red dial, I thought to myself, maybe the time wouldn't feel as if it were passing as slowly. But under the annoyance, I was deeply terrified.

What did this mean? Why was I feeling this? Why was I so anxious to see him and why was I mentally pestering Edward to pay such close attention to what he was thinking? Why was I so afraid that some insignificant amount of harm would come to him? Alice's vision of the absurdly alluring future flashed through my thoughts so often that Edward was beginning to become exasperated with me. As much as he could simply tune out the thoughts of the people around him, my mind was more difficult to ignore. Even Bella's shield couldn't stop him from completely hearing what was happening in my head. So, when I walked into my sixth period math class that I shared with Alice and him, he was sitting in the back of the room at his usual desk, glaring moodily at me.

_Could you just stop the fretting for one second of your life_? he asked, his arms crossed.

Alice was able to guess what was wrong with him, and giggled as she walked in behind me. "If you think this is bad, you obviously fail to remember yourself when you first met Bella. She isn't half as bad as you were," she said.

He made a face at her, and turned to stare at the cracks in the wall without another spoken word. That didn't stop me from hearing the grumbling that was going on in his head.

Luckily, my Chemistry class was the next period, so, as I watched the seconds tick by, it was with more of an excited fervor than with my previous anxiety. As soon as the bell rang to release us, I was out of my seat and rushing for the door. I probably moved more quickly than I should have in my hurry, because I caught a few surprised glances focused on my retreating back that filtered through Edward's mind, and felt him roll his eyes, but I didn't really care.

I went to my locker and traded my math book out for the tattered old Chemistry book that was really nothing more than a prop, and turned down the hall. I walked smoothly to the room and sunk gracefully into my empty seat at the last lab table in the back. My foot tapped incessantly while I waited for him to enter the room. It was uncharacteristic and strange for me to fidget so much. I normally only moved to cause an illusion.

He entered the room with a gliding step almost as graceful as my own. It never ceased to unnerve me to watch him move. He was very obviously human, but there was just something about him that was...a little off. I was able to put my questioning aside when I saw that same eye twinkling smile cross his face when I beckoned him over to sit with me. The seat next to me at the two person table was always unoccupied. No one else had ever had the nerves to claim the spot. He didn't even glance at his normal lab partner as he walked toward the back of the room to take his place at my side.

As soon as he was within reaching distance of me, all my worries and anxious feelings from before completely vanished from my mind. It was like he was my antidote to anything negative. My sun. My light. _No,_ I thought to myself, hoping dearly that Edward was not paying very close attention; _You can't think that about him. Not yet. He's not ready for those feelings from you. You have to stay normal._

"Miss me?" he asked sarcastically, dropping his books onto the slate table with a loud thud.

"A bit," I told him, smiling lightly.

"Just a little?" he asked jokingly, and I saw his eyes sparkle.

My stomach flopped at the implication that he _wanted_ me to miss him, but I sighed. "You should be terrified that I missed you at all," I told him, suddenly very soft and serious.

"Probably," he agreed, his change in tone matching mine, "but I can't be afraid of you. You had all weekend to do whatever you wanted, but here I stand. I already told you that I trust you." His voice was as quiet as mine, so none of the people around us could hear the strange conversation we were having, but we did catch a few curious glances.

"Don't," I said, my voice barely audible even to myself.

I didn't think he had heard me until I felt his hand touch mine softly, cautiously. The warmth that radiated up my arm shocked me almost as much as the feeling of electricity did. It was the same as when he had touched me in the car or when I had laid against his side, staring up at the stars. His touch was tender and feather light, and I suddenly realized that I had been craving it since I left him Saturday night.

"You're a good person, Jo. Never doubt that," he whispered. His long, warm fingers wrapped gently around my small, stone like hand, and he held my gaze unblinkingly.

I was about to open my mouth to respond when our teacher, Mr. Parker, walked in, calling the class to order. I tried very hard to pay attention to what he was saying, tried taking notes even though I knew I could teach the subject better than he could with my eyes closed and one hand tied behind my back. We were studying basic Organic Chemistry, something I had mastered within my first two days at Harvard.

I tried to pay attention because I knew what would capture my eye if I didn't. I pictured his messy, dark hair in my mind's eye, the way that his eyes danced, so full of life, every time his easy smiles graced his features, and I pictured the deep dimple that always appeared just above his left cheek. I couldn't stop myself from peeking sideways at him once his face was already mentally obstructing my vision.

William in real life was even more captivating than his face in my mind. I couldn't take my eyes off him, and found my eyes roaming his features, committing them to memory. He felt my gaze, and his eyes flickered over to me.

The lopsided smirk lit up his face, and I matched it with a grin. Just looking at him sent shivers up my spine and caused a flopping sensation in my stomach that I was unfamiliar with. I had no idea what it could possibly mean. I bit my lip and looked down, surprised at my apparent shyness. I hadn't felt this way for years. Why now? Why William?

I looked forward to the board then, staring straight through it, lost in thoughts of the boy sitting next to me. When the bell rang suddenly and loudly, I jumped, startled by the noise.

"You okay?" William asked, laughing softly at my surprise.

"Uhh…Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine," I stammered. I quickly fell back into the playful banter that we usually kept up. "I'm pretty easily scared, you know. I'm just so fragile." An outsider would not have known that I was joking.

"Oh, yeah. You're practically a kitten," he replied, rolling his eyes and heaving his huge bag onto his shoulders.

"I really wish you would let me carry that for you," I commented as we made our way out into the parking lot.

"And I really wish you wouldn't worry so much. I'll be fine. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger, right?" he said, walking slowly toward the hunk of metal that he called a car.

"Well, what _did_ kill me made me stronger," I told him. "So I guess your point is moot now, isn't it?"

"I really want to see how strong you are," he said, turning to smile at me once we had reached his parking spot.

"Yeah, well maybe I'll show you sometime," I said, shrugging nonchalantly. But inside, I was conflicted. I didn't know if I wanted him to see or not. It might finally instill the proper fear in him, and that might mean he would run. I couldn't decide if that was what I wanted or not.

"I'm holding you to that," he told me.

"I'm sure you will."

He opened the door with his key and plopped the bag into the back seat with a great deal of effort.

"I've really got to get home," he told me, turning slowly. He had an oddly despaired look on his face.

"Alright," I said slowly, confused by his apparently sudden change in mood. It wasn't often that I was unable to keep up with humans. "I'll see you tomorrow, then."

"You promise?" he asked, and his voice was unexpectedly vulnerable. This change surprised me. Just a moment ago, he had been all smiles and sarcasm.

"Of course," I said honestly. "It's not going to be sunny."

His smile returned as I said this, and he nodded. "Okay. Tomorrow, then," he said, and climbed into the car.

He pulled smoothly out of the spot, and I watched him go. I was still surprised by whatever emotions he had been going through in those few brief seconds. I shook my head swiftly, and turned to head for Edward's flashy little car that sat a few yards away.

_Hey, guess who's clueless?_ I heard him ask sarcastically. He had thankfully stayed silent in my brain until now.

I growled lightly under my breath, not really meaning anything by it. _Oh, shut up. Just let me figure things out on my own._

He unlocked the door before I reached the car, and the back door swung open when I approached it. Alice was sitting there with an excited grin on her face, and Edward was smirking at me in the rearview mirror.

"Know it all," I grumbled, sinking into the seat next to Alice, folding my arms across my chest.

"You two were the talk of the school today," she piped up, ignoring my grumbling.

This surprised me. "Really? I didn't notice," I said truthfully.

Bella turned around in the passenger seat and nodded, smiling at me gently. "I guess he's usually so quiet and reserved. And you're one of the 'new kids'," she explained.

"Yeah. Not to mention that you're a Cullen. We haven't been here long enough to get a reputation for aloofness going, but they can all tell we're not normally…outgoing, if you know what I mean," Alice added, nodding matter-of-factly.

I sighed. "I'm sorry if I'm causing a huge problem for all of you," I said honestly. "I really am. It's just that I feel...well, I don't know what I feel around him exactly, but--"

"We know," Jasper said, cutting me off. He smiled wryly. "Well, I know."

"We can all tell what's going on," Alice said, her bright smile never fading. "Just because you're too blind to see it doesn't mean we can't tell."

I said no more on the subject, staring out the window at the trees flashing by. I didn't want to know what they were implying and I tried to tune Edward out. When we got home, I turned toward the forest instead of following the others into the house. I tossed my bag over my shoulder and heard Alice rush forward to catch the small satchel of leather before it fell in the mud.

"I need to be alone for a while," I muttered under my breath, knowing they would hear me. "I'll see you all later."

No one said anything, but I saw Bella's sympathetic stare on my back through Edward's mind, and heard his unspoken words.

_You'll figure it out, kid,_ he said.

I stalked moodily into the forest and ran. I ran as quickly as I could. I really just needed to be alone. I needed some time to think things over. But, even though I made it deep into Canada, I could never get William's face out of my mind. I ran for hours, until, long after the sun had sunk into the sky, I turned around somewhere near the border between Quebec and Newfoundland, making my way south again. I kept running, not really realizing where I was heading until I had climbed the tree next to his window back in Berlin.

I hesitated with my hand on the window sill. This moment felt like a turning point, the breaking point. He was clearly asleep, and I could see by the glowing red light coming from his nightstand that it was almost two in the morning. I chewed my lip, realizing the decision I was about to make. I could go inside like I wanted to, or I could let him sleep in solitude like I should. I took a deep breath and, without further thought, I was standing in front of his bed, gazing down at his sleeping form.

I glanced around, not really sure what to do. There was a small desk chair sitting in the corner, and I crossed the room quickly, pulling it to the side of his bed and sinking into it. It was amazing, and ridiculous, how relaxed I felt just to be near him. All of the questions that had floated around my brain in a confusing jumble suddenly became very clear.

As I listened to his shallow breathing, watched his chest rise and fall gently, I realized what all of these confusing emotions meant. It was shocking, really, how easily the conclusion came to me, when I had been fretting over it fruitlessly so much. I knew in that moment why I felt vulnerable around him, and why I felt that fluttering in my stomach every time he glanced my way.

I knew that I would never hurt him in any way. I _couldn't_ hurt him. I understood completely in that brief second. I understood how Edward had been able to burn in pain for years as he stood faithfully by Bella's side until they were both ready for her transformation. I understood how Carlisle and Esme were able to stay so in love for almost a hundred fifty years. I understood how Rosalie and Emmett could, even after all this time, look at each other with the awestruck eyes of first love. I understood how Alice and Jasper had their near wordless relationship that ran deeper than anything I had previously imagined. And, above all, I understood how Jacob was able to put aside everything he had ever felt toward Edward or Bella or any other vampire he knew the second he saw Renesmee's glistening brown eyes staring at him that day over Rosalie's shoulder.

I took a deep, shuddering breath, and I felt scared and glorious and terrified and empowered all at the same time. I reached a trembling hand out to brush a stray lock of hair off William's forehead. The warmth of his skin flowed into me and the scent of his blood wrapped around me, enveloping me. He smelled of apples and rain on a hot summer's day and baking cookies. My lips parted in a faint smile as I watched him sigh in his sleep. I bent down over his bed, brushing my lips lightly against his forehead.

"Sleep well," I murmured, knowing he wouldn't hear me. I crossed to the window, but paused again on the sill. I glanced back at his peaceful face, and whispered the binding words. "I love you."

* * *

**A/N: You guys are amazing! Thanks for so many reviews! Keep them coming please! :)**

**3**


	17. Anticipation

**A/N: Hopefully I won't get virtually mugged for taking a whole week to get this chapter out. :) Sorry! I've just been relaly busy with school and...okay. I'll stop with the excuses and just say that it's here. I know a few people have been like "Hey, there's no conflict. When is that going to come in?" I'm working on it. I know what's going to happen here, but I can't just throw it out there without building it up. Remember, I'm trying to establish a relationship between two completely new characters while still writing an exciting story. It won't be all mushy gushy love stuff. I promise. There's conflict coming, just not immediately. More like within the next few chapters. It'll be there.**

**DazzlingTopaz1901: I like fluff. Thanks, then! :)**

**SkyeVerya:Yeah, everyone worries. But she's not Edward, so she won't be totally self loathing the entire time. Haha.**

**Azrug: Wow, thanks! It's awesome to hear that you really like it. Yeah, I'm pretty bummed about Midnight Sun, too. :( But what did come out gave me so much more insight into Edward's character. It was really well written even though she kept saying it was a crappy draft.**

**justbehappydammit: Yeah, she was kind of blind to her own feelings. I knew that she was going to fall in love with him as soon as they met. But, then again...I'm kind of the author. So I should know. Haha**

**bloodsucker13: I wrote it! Finally! Haha. I hope creepily is a word because I say it all the time. :)**

**MissyAnn7448: I'll definitely do that. I didn't even really think about it except for in the chapter that she told him because that was kind of a continuation of a conversation. I'm glad you liked it though!**

**Nymphy Lupin92: Yeah, I wanted her to realize in some dramatic epic life threatening way, but this just seemed like the right time. Haha. glad you liked it. :)**

**With a K: Thanks! I'm glad you like it. Yeah, that would be kind of a depressing power to have. She's always knowing how people are going to kick the bucket and she has to talk to them like she's normal. Imagine going to a new school every couple years like she has to and starting all over with a thousand kids. It would be so ridiculous.**

**Jude Mackenzie: You'll see! Thanks. Glad you liked it!**

**finger craker: I know! Sorry it took so long. It makes me happy that you want an update, if that makes sense. :)**

**Keep reviewing, guys! You're awesome!**

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Twilight.

**Chapter Sixteen: Anticipation**

RECAP:

_I took a deep, shuddering breath, and I felt scared and glorious and terrified and empowered all at the same time. I reached a trembling hand out to brush a stray lock of hair off William's forehead. The warmth of his skin flowed into me and the scent of his blood wrapped around me, enveloping me. He smelled of apples and rain on a hot summer's day and baking cookies. My lips parted in a faint smile as I watched him sigh in his sleep. I bent down over his bed, brushing my lips lightly against his forehead._

_"Sleep well," I murmured, knowing he wouldn't hear me. I crossed to the window, but paused again on the sill. I glanced back at his peaceful face, and whispered the binding words. "I love you."_

I pulled my car up in front of William's house the next morning as soon as I heard his mother leave for work. I had debated with myself over the last few hours about whether or not I wanted to be too forward about what I felt for him. I definitely didn't want to scare him off. Edward had told me over and over again to just follow my heart, and Alice had been standing in front of me with a huge smile on her face, flashing new visions through his mind into mine. They had been trying very hard to persuade me to do exactly what I was doing right now. I was taking a risk and making myself more vulnerable than I could ever remember feeling.

The small car began to feel cramped and stuffy, something which had never happened to me, so I climbed out and took a deep breath. This was what I enjoyed about the feeling of love. I hadn't felt so human in over twenty years.

I shoved my hands into the pockets of my jeans and hopped lightly onto the hood, landing gracefully. I rested my head on my knees, not paying much attention to the things going on around me. After a few moments, I heard a soft cough next to me and jumped about a foot in the air.

"Whoa, you're right next to me," I muttered in surprise. It really was uncanny how he was able to sneak up on me like that.

"I'm sorry?" he said, and it came out sounding like a question.

The one dimpled smile lit up his face, and his eyes twinkled. I felt myself being pulled into his gaze. It was like _he_ was the alluring vampire and I was the unsuspecting victim.

"Why are you outside my house?" he asked, hoisting his bag higher on his shoulder.

My eyes drifted to the rusted hunk of metal sitting in his driveway, then I glanced at the vehicle I was sitting on. "Well, you can drive your car if you'd rather," I shrugged.

He laughed. "Alright, no more arguments. I'm getting in," he said, and started for the passenger door.

My mind whirred into action. The way that he moved was so…captivating. I had noticed his grace, but had never before noticed the absolute fluidity with which he carried himself. I bit into my bottom lip absently, cocking my head to the side. A small smile found its way onto my lips. Acting purely on the whim of desire, I was in front of him before he could take a full step forward. I realized quickly what I was doing, and took a small step back. _Don't scare him off,_ I thought to myself.

"What do you think you're doing?" I asked, my voice playful. I couldn't, however, keep the longing intensity out of my eyes.

"What do you mean? I'm…uh…getting in the car," he said, his eyes slightly out of focus. He looked dazed for a moment, and I was curious in the back of my mind as to the cause of it.

I reached into my back pocket swiftly, pulling out the keys and dangling them in front of his face. "I'm riding shotgun today," I said, smiling at the way that his face lit up. It gave me a pleasantly warm sensation in the pit of my stomach to know that I had made him happy.

"For real?" he asked disbelievingly.

"Go for it," I laughed, tossing the keys into the air.

He reached his hand out and caught them absently. "Are you sure? I don't want to kill it. This car is worth more than my house," he said, biting his lip nervously.

I put my hand on his, ignoring the shock that went up my arm when I did so, and closed his fingers around the keys. His heartbeat sped up, and I assumed it was some amount of instinctual fear that he was thankfully able to ignore.

"William, just drive the car," I told him softly. I had to force myself to release his hand before turning my back on him and climbing into the passenger seat.

He went to the other side of the car quickly, tossing his bag in the back seat next to mine, and hopped in. Taking a deep breath, he turned the key. I watched his face light up all over again when he felt the engine rumbling gently under his feet. He turned to me, smiling like an idiot.

"Are you going to put it in drive or are we going to stare at the street in front of your house all day?" I asked jokingly. In truth, I wouldn't mind just staring at the street in front of his house as long as the _us_ was involved.

He chuckled softly, shaking his head. "I'm working on it," he replied.

He turned back to the road and shifted gears. He put his foot onto the petal with what I assumed was the amount of force he used to propel his own car, and we shot forward. My body slammed into the back of the seat before I doubled over laughing.

"It takes a lot to make _me_ fear for my life. I have to tell you, William, you're not the best driver I know," I admitted, shaking my head.

He smiled wryly. "Shut up," he grumbled, barely tapping the pedal this time. We took off more smoothly but he drove almost as wildly as I did. We were at the school in my normal ten minutes.

People stopped to stare at the car when we pulled into the lot. Heads turned and jaws dropped. William smiled proudly when he climbed out.

"Is that Rice?" I heard a passing guy mutter to his friend. "Since when does he get the hottest chick in school and a Lotus?"

"You see," another girl was hissing to two girls she was walking with, "I told you they were dating, didn't I?"

"Which one is she?" someone else asked. "She's one of the redhead twins, right?"

I smiled at William, trying not to laugh.

"What?" he asked, noticing the look on my face.

I stood on my tiptoes to whisper in his ear. As soon as I got close, I could hear his heartbeat pick up again. It made me a little upset to know that I was giving him the reaction of fear, but I couldn't help myself. "They're all speculating about whether we're dating or not," I said. The heat radiating off his throat drew me in, but not in the evil, vampiric sense. I was pulled by urges that were new to me. But I could guess where they were coming from easily enough.

"Well, are we?" he asked, a little breathless for some reason. As soon as the words had left his mouth, he blushed a deep red and bit his lip.

I felt just as awkward, but I was better at hiding the emotion on my face and in my words. "You could say that," I told him, smiling gently. I was sure that if my heart were still beating, it would be flopping around erratically in my chest. "I definitely wouldn't mind." I internally yelled at myself for being too intense with my last statement. I could feel the emotions showing through in my eyes.

He looked a little dazed like he had this morning for a moment. He just nodded, seemingly unable to speak. Did I really scare him that much? Was I really so terrifying?

He interrupted my self deprecation before I could get into too much of a tailspin by smiling widely. He reached his hand out tentatively, taking mine in it. The warmth flowed up my arm swiftly, and I couldn't help but sigh softly at the sensation. He glanced down at me out of the corner of his eye as we started walking. He was grinning to himself like he knew something I didn't. I shook it off, ecstatic that he was at least accepting me for who I was. I went to class in a blissful haze, happy that the world seemed to be working in my favor.

"William, I have a question for you," I prompted later that afternoon while we were walking back out to my car after Chemistry.

"Alright, go for it," he said, cocking his head to the side.

"Umm…how would you like to meet my family?" I asked him. I had talked to Alice, Edward, Jasper, and Rosalie today at lunch (our school was big enough that lunch was divided into two groups) and they had all agreed to him coming over. Alice had answered me with an excited yes before I could even open my mouth to ask the question. She had said he would bond with Renesmee over something that she wasn't quite sure of yet.

"Well, I already kind of know Edward a little. But I don't think he likes me much. Last week when I first started talking to you, he just kind of glared at me the whole time," he said nervously.

I rolled my eyes. "He was just really wary of my getting close to a human. He was being an overprotective older brother. And a bit of a hypocrite," I told him.

"I thought you two were twins?" he asked while he waited for me to unlock the doors of the vehicle.

"No. He was my grandmother's cousin. He's about a century older than I am," I said.

He acted politely unsurprised as I pulled out of the parking lot and started toward his house. I was taking him there first so he could leave a note for his mother.

"So does that mean Bella is that old, too?" he asked me.

"He was a hundred four when he met her," I told him. "Age doesn't always factor in that way when it comes to our relationships. But Edward was the first of us to get so closely involved with a human."

"And you're the second," he said, squeezing the hand that he was holding in the seat between us. The light pressure sent pleasant tingles up my arm.

I smiled appreciatively. "Thank you," I said, my voice coming out in a whisper.

"For what?" he asked, his eyes boring into mine.

"For trusting me," I said. "You trust me more than I trust myself."

The emotion that showed on his face made me stop cursing myself for being too intense. In that moment, I saw what he was feeling so clearly that it took me completely by surprise. His eyes held that same devoted adoration that I had seen in Alice's vision so plainly. But how could he be feeling that already? How was it possible? I was positive that human minds didn't react that quickly to situations like this. Humans couldn't…fall in love as easily. So what was it that I was reading here on his face?

"I wish that weren't true, you know," he said, his voice just as soft as mine had been. "You don't deserve to be so self loathing. You wouldn't hurt me. I can tell that."

Something in his words struck a chord with me. "I'm starting to see the truth in that myself," I said, suddenly realizing his words were very correct.

He nodded silently and glanced out the window. He laughed softly to himself, shaking his head. "I hadn't even noticed we were already at my house."

"I'm a pretty great multi-tasker," I laughed, falling back out of our suddenly serious conversation.

"Impressive," he replied sarcastically. "I can only dream that I could be so great."

"Hey, but hurry up. I'm kind of excited for you to meet everyone," I told him, already standing outside the car and bouncing on the balls of my feet before he was able to notice I had even moved.

He just laughed and climbed out after me, starting toward the house in his quick, graceful step. I caught up with him, matching his pace easily. He wrote a quick note to his mother and turned back to me.

"Ready?" I asked, gesturing at the door dramatically.

"You are so impatient," he told me, rolling his eyes.

"I know. Alice said you'll love everyone," I replied, shrugging. "So don't worry."

"Let's get going, then," he said. He smiled confidently, but I could tell he was nervous just under the surface.

I had the courage to grab his hand this time. "None of them will hurt you any more than I will," I said. "Actually, you're probably better off with any of them than you are with me."

"Don't say that," he scolded automatically. Every time I put myself down, he seemed adamant about correcting me. "Anyway, I'm not worried that they'll _hurt _me. It's more that I'm afraid they won't like me. Or that they'll be mad that I know about…well, about you."

I grimaced slightly. "Well, they already got over being angry about that. They…mostly Rosalie…wasn't too happy about it at first, but she won't bother you. She was just worried. And the rest of them will love you. Alice already feels like she's known you for years."

"What do you mean?" he asked, and I suddenly realized I what I had said. "Did she see something? Have you known that you would meet me?"

"No. She saw something very…interesting…when you first decided to talk to me," I admitted, biting my lip.

"What was it?" he asked, his eyes sparkling with the smile that graced his face.

"Umm…it's not really important," I lied. "She doesn't even really know if it will come true at all." Another lie. Her visions of his future as one of us had become even more sure. She was now seeing pieces of moving pictures, something that never happened unless there was no other course of action. It usually only happened when she was looking for the weather.

He glared at me for a moment with a suspicious look in his eyes. He kept his silence on the matter, but I could tell that he didn't believe me when I said it was nothing. Most of the ride home was quiet. I was listening intently for the moment that I would be close enough to hear what was going through everyone's minds.

William was gazing out the window. He sighed softly a few times in what sounded like a frustrated way, and a piece of my mind detached from trying to hear what was going through Edward's head to wonder what was going through William's.

I turned into our long driveway without even thinking about the action, and after about ten seconds of driving, my mind exploded with communication.

_I'm so excited to finally talk to him,_ Alice was thinking.

_I am so going to beat you, bloodsucker,_ Jacob said.

_Get him, daddy!_ Maddie was thinking.

I was curious as to what was going on in the house. Bella's train of thought interrupted my wondering, though.

_I'm not going to shield her from his thoughts unless she asks me to, Edward._ Bella's insistent words suddenly made me realize something. When I was around him, I would be able to hear everything William was thinking.

I listened cautiously, hoping I wouldn't hear something I didn't want to.

_I wish she would just tell me. I can handle this,_ he was saying. _I want to know what she knows. She can't know how much I want that. I can't tell her how much I really like her._

A smile spread across my face, but I knew I didn't want to know everything. I wanted our relationship to be as normal as possible, so I attempted to ignore his mind.

_Edward, can you please tell Bella to block him out?_ I asked as we got closer to the house.

_If that's what you want,_ he replied, and we were close enough now that I was able to hear him asking her out loud.

The spot next to me went blank, and I sighed in relief. His head snapped over to me.

"What?" he asked, curiosity drifting through his voice.

"It's…nothing. Just nothing," I told him. "Let's go. Everyone's very excited to meet you."

I glanced up at the porch and saw that Esme and Carlisle were already standing there with pleasant smiles on their faces.

"Are you sure?" he asked. I could tell how nervous he was from his voice.

I smiled gently. "Come on. Esme is practically beside herself with happiness," I told him. "I told you. Alice said you'll get along with everyone really well."

He nodded slightly and began to climb out of the car. When we were both out and started toward the front door, I heard Alice get even more excited. It was all she could do to keep herself from bounding outside and giving him a hug.

"Welcome to our home, William," Carlisle said.

"We're so pleased to have you here," Esme said truthfully.

I nodded encouragingly, and I was suddenly very vividly reminded of my meeting the family for the first time. I realized that this was exactly that. William was meeting the family that was so sure he would become one of them. Most of them already thought of him as family. A different kind of smile spread across my face then. A smile of reassured excitement. This was going to work out.

* * *

**A/N: Thanks for the reviews, guys! Keep them coming!**

**:)**


	18. Release

**A/N: _READ!!_ Alright. So I finally got the question: Will you write a chapter from William's point of view? I've been contemplating this in my mind, and I've decided that no, I won't. Not in Vanishing Acts. But I'm going to take a vote on whether you guys want a sequel or a Midnight Sun-esque version of Vanishing Acts from William's POV INCLUDING a lot of his back story. After you read this chapter, you'll probably WANT a back story. Just saying. so start thinking about your answer to this and let me know in reviews.**

**So I'm kind of using my Author's note as a rant this time. But there is a small piece of Vanishing Acts related info I would like to share: I just realized that I made William's mother's name Anne Rice. No pun intended I swear. Haha. It was totally accidental. I was reading over my character profile (See Ch. 12 for part of it) and I notice it. I laughed real hard. Oops. **

**So I'm completely CHAGRINED after watching the VMA's. What the Hale was up with that random British dude cutting off Rob's talking? Bummed. Total deflation of excitement. I think he got like two freaking words out before he was cut off by his fellow countryman. Shouldn't there be like some kind of mutual respect code thing between famous (or not so much famous in the case of Russell-what's-his-name) British dudes? I was excited to see how wasted Rob was going to act. Bummer. For real.**

**So…I think that's it. You guys are really freaking awesome though! Don't forget to review!**

**With a K: I know! They are so alike! Haha. Blind. Oh well. I'm glad you like it, though.**

**fingercraker: Sorry it took so long! :( But I'm glad you liked it. :)**

**SkyeVerya: FINALLY! Haha. He's official. :)**

**Jude Mackenzie: Yeah, that made me smile when I wrote it too. Why thank you! XD**

**NymphyLupin92: You get the prize this time around. You're the only one who pointed out the important foreshadowing that they'll bond. Read the chapter to see why!**

**DazzlingTopaz1901: See above for the answer to your question. :) But yeah, she's kind of oblivious.**

**silversbreath: Well, since you put Edward on top... Haha. Thanks for the review!**

**MissyAnn7448: I know. I PROMISE it's not that similar. You'll see why after you read this chapter. And it'll get even more different. :) Thanks for the review though.**

DISCLAIMER: I don't own twilight.

**Chapter Seventeen: Release**

I walked into the large living room with William at my side and busted out laughing as soon as we rounded the corner. Edward had Jacob in a headlock on the floor, the video game controllers lying forgotten behind them.

"Cheating, flea-bitten mongrel," Edward growled, holding down both of Jacob's arms with one of his legs.

"Bloodsucking leech," Jake grunted, struggling to break free.

"Go, Daddy! You gots to get outta Grampa's arms! Go!" Ryan cheered. He was jumping up and down with his arms in the air like a cheerleader.

Both men on the floor laughed, and Edward's hold on Jacob's neck loosened. They were both on their feet in a second, standing at opposite ends of the room. Jake's entire body began to shake, and his body burst into that of a wolf.

"Yay!" the twins chorused.

Jacob let out a joyous bark and before he could even make his mover, Edward darted from where he was standing to stop in front of the mantel piece. They were in a chase then. They ran circles around the room, Edward lagging in his normal speed so that the twins would be able to watch.

"Go, go, go!" Maddie chanted. I wasn't sure exactly who she was rooting for until a small, brown puppy replaced her form and she leapt into the air.

Edward spun around at the last second, catching her in his arms gently. He laughed and ruffled the fur on the top of her head. She transformed back into her human from and a pout was clearly visible on her face.

"Grampa, why'd you catch me?" she asked, folding her arms over her chest moodily. "I was trying to be a wolf like Daddy."

"I'm sorry, Princess," Edward said, smiling down at her affectionately. "I'll turn around and I promise I won't listen for when you're coming."

"No, it's no good now," she replied, hopping down to the floor. "You already know."

"What's happening right now?" I asked through my laughter, staring at the scene in front of me.

"Halo tournament gone bad," Jasper explained, shutting the game off.

I glanced sideways at William. He was standing frozen at my side, his eyes wide. I waved a hand in front of his face tentatively, hoping they hadn't scared him too much. His shock left him then, and he broke into laughter.

"Man, I'll never be able to take you seriously after that," he told Edward once he caught his breath. "That was just…so strange on so many levels."

"Well, I'm not a total tough guy. I have my soft moments," Edward said, grinning and moving forward to shake his hand. "I'm Edward."

_How's that for letting him know I don't hate him?_ he added mentally.

I rolled my eyes at him. I had already made William's concerns very clear to Edward. _You came off as kind of a jerk when you first met him. Admit it._

"Hi, I'm Madison, but you can call me Maddie," Maddie said, marching forward bravely and sticking her free hand out.

William shook her small hand gently. "I'm William," he told her, crouching down so he was on her level.

"I know who you are. My Aunt Alice said you gonna be a family soon," she told him, nodding her head as if it were sure fact. "She said you gonna have yellow eyes and that you getta go hunting with them. Can I come with you when you go?"

"Umm…yes, Maddie," I said interrupted, sure I would be blushing if I were human. "We know what Aunt Alice has said. And you know everyone else already, right, William? Alright, good. Would you like to see my room?"

A small smile appeared on his lips, lighting up his eyes, making them dance at my obviously flustered state. "I would love to," he answered softly, taking my hand in his. "I'll see you all later."

Again, I was surprised by the warmth that his body let off and by the shock that went up my arm and the butterflies that seemed to erupt in my stomach every time he smiled at me like that. I walked up the stares almost blindly, caught up in just staring at his face. He was just so…there wasn't really a word to describe it. I just couldn't seem to tear my eyes away from him.

We made it to my room, and I closed the door softly behind myself. I had that same jumpy feeling in the pit of my stomach, but it was now accompanied by the rush of teenage hormonal desire that I had never really experienced before. The force of it shocked me.

I heard William's heart rate pick up, and I turned to look at him. I had assumed at first that his racing pulse was a reaction to his fear of me, but now I saw my own desire reflected in his eyes. He was standing just a foot away, but it was still too far.

"I…umm…well," I began stammering, feeling gloriously human and alive.

"Jo, don't," he said, cutting me off by placing a finger to my lips. His voice was low and husky.

He brought his hand from my mouth to the side of my face and slid it down to rest on the base of my neck. I moved closer to him involuntarily, closing the distance between our bodies easily. I had never been in a situation like this before, and my mind was racing. But, at the same time, I was unable to think. All I could see was his face in front of me. All I could hear was his pulse pounding in my ears. All I could smell was his fresh apple scent. All I could feel was his hands. One was still cupping the back of my neck 

gently, but the other was pressing insistently at the small of my back, pulling me closer and closer to him.

"William," I whispered, unsure of myself. Our bodies were pressed against each other, both his arms now twined around my middle. His hold was surprisingly strong. He was human, but I could feel their pressure very clearly. "William, are you…I could hurt…"

He cut me off then, his lips crashing into mine finally. I was frozen with surprise for the smallest fraction of a second, but I quickly got used to the feel of his lips on mine, of his arms squeezing my body. I found myself with my hands entwined in his hair and my body molded to his, every fiber in my skin screaming for closer contact. I hadn't realized until then just how much I had been wishing for this to happen. The desire had been close to the point of pain. Now, with a release that had been building inside me since the moment I met him, I threw myself into the kiss with abandon. It wasn't hard, as I had expected it to be. It wasn't at all the way Edward had described it. I didn't have to even think about being too rough with him, didn't have to worry about losing control at the wrong moment. It was primal and satisfying and overwhelming, but at the same time, it was _easy_. Effortless. Like floating. Like falling.

I hadn't even noticed I had been backing up until my claves made contact with my low platform bed and I fell backwards, pulling William with me. His lips didn't break contact with mine as he moved to hover over me, his hips straddling my waist.

What really surprised me the most was the fact that I hardly even noticed the blood rushing just underneath his skin. He didn't seem fragile in the least, as I had expected him to be. His arms were strong and sure, and his hold was solid. I felt the way his body wrapped around my stone frame, but I also felt the pressure he was putting on my arms as he lifted them over my head, pinning them there.

Finally, agonizingly, he had to pull away. We were both panting, my chest rising and falling rapidly. He hovered over me still, his hair falling in his face as he gazed down at me with that same adoring, affectionate stare. We lay there, just gazing at each other until his heart rate had slowed and the flush had gone from his lips.

I was the first to break the peaceful silence. "It's very easy to be with you like that," I commented in a soft voice, almost a whisper. "Much easier than I thought it would be."

We were laying side by side now, my head resting on his chest. He was playing with my hair absently and staring at the ceiling with a small smile on his face. I turned to look at him when he didn't comment. He stared steadily back at me unblinkingly.

"Why do you think that is?" I prompted again, not breaking eye contact with him.

He laughed softly, and he looked at me as though he were looking at a very small child who has just asked a very difficult question. "Well, I wasn't sure if I was going to tell you this or not, but now there seems to be no way around it," he told me, his voice very low.

"Tell me what?" I asked, my eyebrows furrowing in confusion. Something was starting to click in my mind, but I couldn't be sure of what it was as I stared at the baffling features of his face.

He looked at me with a wistful smile on his face and sighed. "I haven't been quite as honest with you as you've been with me," he said, obviously choosing his words very carefully.

And then it did click. I saw what had been floating just below the surface of my consciousness. His effortless grace, his beauty, the heat of his touch. Things that I had taken for granted as mere quirks of his bodily composition. And then the new questions: his apparent strength, the way that I didn't have to expend any effort to keep myself from killing him. I didn't know what it all meant exactly, but there was something different about him. Something I had not quite caught on to.

"What do you mean?" I asked, though I thought I had some sort of idea.

"I'm more human than you are, obviously but…well…I'm not exactly…_pure_ human," he said slowly.

I sat up quickly, staring down at him. He mimicked my position, sitting right in front of me, both of us cross-legged. He played with my fingers as he tried to think of the words to say, just as he had the night that I had told him my secret.

"I didn't know," he said finally, still staring at my hands instead of my eyes. "Well, not at first. I didn't know what I was. I always knew things were different about me, but I never really understood fully. I've always been very sensitive to sounds and scents. For instance, I could hear peoples' hearts beating if I got too close to them and I can smell what the neighbors are having for dinner if I have my window open. I always just figured I was a freak.

"But when I was seven, when we moved here from Ann Arbor…well, this is really the _reason_ we moved. When I was seven, I was playing on the playground with my friend Josh during recess. We were playing tag, I think. I don't know. I'm not really sure. But he fell and scraped his knee. As soon as it happened, I was at his side quicker than I would have thought myself ever capable of. I was attracted to the smell of the blood. It was all I could do to not kill him on the playground. But I bit him. I didn't bite his neck or anything, but I _did_ bite him. A teacher saw it happen and, of course, she freaked out. Parents were called and meetings with the principal happened, and then I was expelled. My mother and I moved the next week, leaving the past behind us."

He peeked up at me from under his eye lashes, and I could see the pain and torture and fear on his face. He was looking at me as though I would shun him for saying this. But I couldn't say a thing. I just nodded and motioned for him to continue speaking. I didn't know what there was for me to say.

"Well, I was kind of normal from then on, but I was afraid it would happen again. I distanced myself from everyone. I was so scared I would kill someone without meaning to. I had no idea what was wrong with me. But then, last year…he came."

"Who came?" I asked softly when he lapsed into silence. "William, you can tell me. What happened?"

"My…my father, Andrew. He came back. But he wasn't older like he was supposed to be. He should have been in his forties. But he wasn't a day over eighteen. It was unnerving to look at him. Almost like looking in a mirror. But his eyes…they were bright red. He explained everything to me then. He told me all about my great grandfather who had gotten a woman pregnant and then left, hoping the son would return to him. He told me about how his father, my grandfather Charles, had been unwilling to do so. How he had refused to do evil. He stayed young forever, but lived like a normal person. And then my grandmother had my father, but she died during childbirth. My father grew up despising my Charles for his passive attitude. He wanted to be a monster.

"So when my dad got to be about eighteen, he killed Charles and left to find his grandfather. He didn't find him at first, but he _did_ find my mom. He decided to carry on the 'family legacy' and got her pregnant with me before just leaving. When he finally did find my great-grandfather, he was changed into a vampire.

"Jo…I'm not really human either. I'm only about one-eighth of one, but I _am_ part vampire," he finished, finally able to look me fully in the eyes.

Stunned. I was completely and utterly shocked out of my mind. "But…but…you…Alice…what?" I stuttered, not really sure what I was saying.

"What about Alice?" he asked curiously.

"Alice…she…umm…you…but what?" I continued, not able to form a coherent sentence. "Wait, if your father came to find you, then why are you still here?" I was finally able to ask.

"He wanted me to join him. He wanted me to be evil like he was. But I refused. My great grandfather Joseph was the one who talked him out of just killing me on the spot," he answered. "I'm lucky to be alive, really."

"But Alice saw us…and your dad is…how was he changed? How is it possible?" I asked, shaking my head.

"I _think_ it's because he was less than half vampire. He wasn't immortal. He didn't have the lifespan of Renesmee, or even of the twins, because they're only half human. But he _did_ age slower. And so will I. I'll have a longer lifespan than most, but, eventually, I will die. If I stay human," he added, his face suddenly very hard to read.

"So it's possible, then?" I asked. "You can be changed?"

"Apparently," he said, shrugging nonchalantly as though we were discussing the weather instead of his mortality.

I thought it over for a moment. He definitely wasn't ready to be changed. That much was certain. But the family needed to know. If they hadn't already heard, that is. "We need to talk to Carlisle," I decided.

William took a deep breath then, after a brief moment of silence, nodded his head. "Alright. Let's go. Is he downstairs?"

"Yeah. They're all in the living room. It kind of makes me think they already know," I admitted. "But we should go down just in case. They're in for the shock of a lifetime."


End file.
